A Fallen Knight
by Code Name - I am NRG
Summary: The story takes place before the Monster Bash, Marco is slowly and painfully piecing together how his reappearance to Mewni has destroyed his life back on Earth and while his sojourn has been a miserable experience. Is there no place for Marco Diaz anymore?
1. Chapter 1

.

 **Chapter 1**

Ancient History

 **XxXxXxXxX**

The Butterfly Castle stood above all of Mewni, sheltering the peasants under it's protective shade. It also provided some relief to the knights, warriors and squires training in the many battlegrounds, since King River's reign as leader they were all pushed into a strict routine by Queen Moon to get them in fighting form. They could have pushed back Ludo when he arrived, but because of the lax hand River had on them, they easily fell prey due to sloth, exhaustion, disorganize structure and many things else.

The warriors were clad in full chain mail and plate armor, using swords, lances, axes, halberds, morning stars, shields and whatnot to do their drills. It was quickly apparent how serious it was when the waft of sweaty breath and body order linger on the air and into anyone's unfortunate nostrils.

A lone squire sat amongst the shade of a tree, doing his best not to gag at the sudden invasion of nasty. He fought to keep his mouth closed, lest allow the smell to fall upon his tongue and taste the rank stench of a hundred odd troops so early in the morning. He wanted to train with them all, but after his first run in with them, how they taunted him and purposely tried to hinder and even hurt him, he merely sat in the shade out of view.

Watching them usually led to him later training with the utmost vigor, but lately he could hardly muster the enthusiasm to get out off bed and drag himself across the castle. While he was his liege, the castle staff and attendants were curt and impassive, however the moment he was alone he could feel the change in atmosphere, it as if they were looking at a stray dog.

He shook his head bitterly, _even a stray dog wouldn't be treated so poorly…_

He sighed and looked towards the sky, it was definitely different from what he was used to, shades of blue he had never seen before or the tinge of pink and orange. He looked on for a minute before standing and walking off, however his departure did not go unnoticed,

"Looks like the _royal squire_ is playing hookie! What too good to be sweating out here like the rest of us?! Speak when spoken to MARCO!"

Marco Diaz didn't bother answering as he left the training grounds and walked out of the expansive castle, his thoughts muddled with thoughts of throwing Higgs into a moat full of hungry monsters.

The farmers, peasants and unwashed didn't pay Marco much mind, occasionally trying to swindle him or play games involving mud. He wandered through the place until he stopped at the magical barrier Queen Moon had recast to protect them all. Marco looked at it for a moment before walking around it's circumference, it covered quite the area, even the Mewni corn crop was protected.

He stopped in front of the forest beyond it, his thoughts going back to when Star brought his parent here for a little excursion. He survived the forest before and calmly walked in, keeping an observant eye for all sorts of dangers that lurked inside. If King River could traverse the place every time he was fed up with the castle, Marco could handle it.

"It's a lot quieter than last time…" Marco said aloud, he glanced around, seeing less fauna than usual. He avoided some very spiny plants and vines, he took a turn down a trail as the flora started to be less thorny and much more tame and managed. Marco continued to walk, enjoying the more welcoming scenery, "Ah, much better…?"

He stopped and looked around, seeing a sudden change in the flora, he glanced back and felt his gut twist: he could see the magical barrier, he was outside of it. He quickly walked back only to misstep and Marco found himself suddenly sliding downwards, he clawed his hands as he slowed before reaching the bottom.

"Darn it!" Marco huffed, seeing himself a tad dirty from the slide, he looked around unsure where he could climb the slope with the least amount of dirt and mud getting on him. He paused as he looked around more closely, something seemed off about the the vegetation, while it wasn't completely landscaped it didn't looked as if it was wild and overgrown like the parts he had seen from the forest.

"This is like a grove…" Marco said to himself, walking between the trees, he smiled when it led to a clearing, he could find himself a path back to civilization! He ran forward, temporarily leaving his Safe Kid persona for the first time since he stepped foot on Mewni.

"WATCH WHERE YOU STEP YOU ARSE!"

Marco nearly jumped out of skin at the sudden yell, adrenaline hammering in his veins and his heart in his throat. The earthling took a combative stance, unsure where the yell had come from and ready to apologize.

.

.

.

Marco frowned and looked around: no one was around. Just more trees, bushes and the breeze, Marco felt as if someone had pulled a fast one on him and he shook his head, "Geez, I have to go back."

"Quite rude to just leave, I guess I don't deserve an apology."

Marco whipped head around again, this time sweat dampened his hoodie, his eyes darting all over the place, "S-sorry?"

"…alright lad, I forgive you. Scared ya, didn't I?"

Marco could hear the voice clearly, he silently hoped he wasn't going insane, _just more problems to pile on top of the others…_

"Er, I'll be going now."

No response.

Marco took tentative steps away, he looked around carefully for anyone hiding amongst the growth, just before he left the clearing he spotted a slight weathered stone, just barely jutting out of the grass, it looked like the remains of a tombstone.

.

Marco found himself back inside the castle again, taking detours that let him bypass most of the staff and allowed him back in the haven of his room. He threw himself on his bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking to himself, thinking about his family, his friends and even his school, he actually missed it.

Sighing, Marco sat up and thought aloud, "What am I even doing here…?"

Tad's words came blaring in his ears and he wanted rebuke it immediately, but the more he thought of it, the more he thought of reasons why he was here. Why he needed to be here.

 _Are you here for Star?_

 _Or yourself?_

"God, I hope that wasn't…it." Marco rubbed his right arm for a moment before he quietly reflected on what he had accomplished since he got here. He didn't want to admit it, but it was abysmal to what he had done before on Mewni. He was here in support for Star…but he played such a small role, if any actually.

It made him feel as if he was waiting for something to happen, to be thrust into the limelight once again, _am I…am I just waiting to be needed again? Waiting for disaster?_

Marco shook his head angrily, kicking himself for thinking that, but a small voice agreed, he wanted to be needed. To be a hero. To not be the Safe Kid. He wanted to reinvent himself and being in Mewni gave him that chance, no one here knew him, his history or reputation, he could make himself anything he wanted.

He slumped on his desk, despite his service to Mewni, it seemed no matter how momentous it was, he came back and seemingly no one cared he risk life and limb for the foreign kingdom.

Heck, even King River was sure he wasn't coming back and gave him a mucky cape.

The memory seared his pride and trust for the King, he hands turned into fists and he felt the sudden desire to split his desk with a vicious karate chop. He ruefully smiled at the thought, breaking his arm in a similar fashion before, he reined in his anger and walked over to his bed and laid there until dinner was being prepared.

The meal was uneventful, Star had her little party to prepare so she ate and excused herself rather quickly, Moon ate in a dignified pace and River ate with the speed and finesse of a hungry wolf. Marco ate his meal of butter corn and corn bread with a side of mutton in silence before thanking the two hosts and cook before wandering out of the castle again.

It was night, the stars glimmered and sparkled above him as he walked through the town again, he was unsure where he was going, just letting himself steer at a whim.

And he found himself back to the place where he first heard the voice, strange enough he had a feeling that monsters avoided the place, he didn't know what led him back but he felt compelled to return.

"Ah, back so soon lad?"

"Who are you?" Marco asked to no one in particular.

There was a silence in the grove before the voice chuckled and spoke again, this time it was tired, "I don't suppose my name endured the ages…well lad I am but a lowly warrior, fought and died establishing the Mewman Kingdom, later renamed to the Butterfly Kingdom."

Marco blinked at the information, "You're a ghost?"

"I am, I suppose, 'tis been many a years since I drew breath. However, I could never move on…unfinished business I have left on this world."

Marco tugged on his hoodie before he gathered some twigs and tinder, rubbing stick he made himself a tiny flame to weather the cold of the evening.

"Would you like to hear my story, boy?"

"…sure, I would like to hear what Mewni was like before you made monsters out to be evil." Marco said the last part without an edge, saying it just for the sake of it.

There was silence for a moment before the voice asked, "I dunno where you heard that but we were at each other's throats constantly eons before my birth, I was orphaned from one of their raids."

"But from what I read you fought monsters here, most of them weren't as powerful as the Mewmans, they were massacred."

"The monsters here are nothing like the ones we were drove from our previous lands, but make no mistake it was a war that only got worse because monsters from afar came here and stirred trouble."

Marco frowned, listening to the story of the warrior of old,

"We've gone off topic long enough let's see…I was born in a faraway land from here, when I was a wee child my town was raided and I was the few lucky but miserable survivors. I scavenged, begged and sometimes stole to keep myself alive until I found myself standing before the militia, after I had exhausted myself with all I had done. The months I spent cold, alone and vengeful finally forced me to join the banding warriors and survivors, as a small child who knew little about letters, numbers and workings of the world I was put through manual labor and chores until I was a page. My education was spotty so I had to spend time with gruff instructors to learn to read, write and speak befitting my meager station.

"Time came when I would become a squire, by then the band I had joined begun to take shape, government and nobility became more concrete, structure for society and technology and most importantly magic was found. A select few could wield it, but so few made it so easy for our enemies to assassinate them, they needed troops and mighty knights to supplement their low numbers. We fought bitterly with the monsters, pushing from the lands to new ones until we came here, by then I was a knight, baptized on the battlefield."

"Wait so that's when you came here right? So that means the magic wielding group was the Butterflys!"

"Yes, few in numbers but plenty in power; they moved up in society and became nobles and royalty, their prowess on the battlefield could not be denied as they easily turned the tide of battle in our favor always. By then the scribes, storytellers and bards began to chronicle their stories, sitting them in history as royalty however by then most of the monsters that had followed us had eventually died off or went into hiding. The monsters here were not as vicious as the one we had fought before, however our blood was thick with war and we easily slew them, hence the misunderstanding you have of the Mewmans of that time.

"Towards the end of the war and the establishing of Mewni, I was slain and fell in battle, however I was not remembered by Mewnman historians like the countless heroes and warriors of my time…like my friends. I was but an poor orphan, clawing my way up in the brutal world. Ironically, the monsters I fought bitterly and viciously were the ones who preserved my history and memory, even my final resting place was made by them even if my gravestone has crumbled away. However, I am forever grateful to them."

"That's very kind of them." Marco replied.

"Well, boy, he was very kind to me."

Marco leapt to his feet as a well dressed lizard stood before him, Marco fell into a fighting stance, he had a sinking feeling he just got himself into a trap, _stupid, stupid Marco! Great._

The lizard looked at him with mild surprise, "I'm not here to fight, I'm actually surprised someone here likes to talking to a dear old friend of mine."

"Ah, lad this is the monster I saved in my living days."

"I have a few names, but you may refer to me as Buttercup."

"…you got any more intimidating names?" Marco asked sarcastically.

The lizard chuckled, he looked like a gecko, he had pale gray skin and tawny eyes, coupled with a formal white shirt and black trousers and bowtie.

"How about…Marrow Eater?"

"…Yeah, Buttercup is fine."

The lizard laughed before walking away, "Be sure to put out that flame, I would not like my grove to burnt to a crisp. Come back again if you wish to talk to my friend, he is quite the chatter box."

Marco looked at the retreating lizard before kicking some dirt over the fire, delving himself back into the shadows of the night. He took cautious steps back before turning and sprinting for the magical barrier, with the pale starlight he could retrace his steps and he leapt full body through the protective dome as if Buttercup would suddenly slam into it.

Marco looked outside the dome, waiting for glaring eyes and claws raking the dome but when nothing came, he sighed in relief and walked back to the castle. He decided to see if the ghost had told the truth and visited the library, taking history books and scrolls and read them.

True to the ghost's words, the Mewman historians only begun to document their humble beginnings after they landed on the new land, all he read that they came from afar and were already geared for war, just as the ghost had spoken of. There were many battles before the kingdom was established, the treaties made, alliances and other important events but nothing that Marco didn't need to know.

He read the battles, hoping to find the ghost's identity but Marco could not identify whether he died in a recorded battle, ambush or unnamed skirmish.

Tired at the reading and story telling, Marco stuffed the books and scrolls back and walked back to his room, his laser puppies having returned and all asleep in a basket draped with a thick blanket.

Marco petted them before resigning himself to his bed, he yawned and turned over,

"I'm never going back there again."

 **XxXxXxXxX**

Another fanfic added to the collection, I didn't want to make another fanfic when I have so many unfinished ones, but it really crept up on me. The plot came from such a righteous conversation I had with someone on iFunny and it heckled me until I wrote it, now I know I'm going to be juggling far more than I can handle.

Pray for my sanity and timely updates.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	2. Chapter 2

.

 **Chapter 2**

Curses

 **XxXxXxXX**

Marco watched Star work on the Monster Bash, she put more effort into it than anything he had seen before on Earth or Mewni. He glanced out the window, seeing the forsaken tower Eclipsa was imprisoned, but he exhaled at the thought, the Queen of Darkness knew every nook and cranny of the castle even navigating it with secret passages she made herself or found.

There was no telling if she was even in her tower most of them time, but Marco kept that notion to himself, it would sour Star's mood if he brought up anything bad about Eclipsa. She definitely wasn't hesitant on pushing him out of her room to have tea and a chat with the Queen but he wasn't that dense to not know what was going on, still it was just conjecture and he wasn't going to jeopardize his rickety friendship with Star at the moment.

"Hey Star, I'm going to the library."

"Sure, sure, just be on time for lunch."

Star didn't bother glancing up at him as she scribbled things for the party, it looked like a rather messy brainstorm but he left it at that. He walked through the castle, greeting the staff but ignoring any of their tone or facial reactions to him as he had his hands inside of his hoodie pocket, feeling the Dimensional Scissors forged by Hekapoo, his heart throbbed at the thought of the lady blacksmith.

He hurt her badly as he withhold information about the portals. Reflecting on it, if he told her immediately she might have been understanding and their partnership and friendship by extension would have been saved. However, in his guilt and selfishness, he hesitate to tell her and it cost him an ally and friend, she wouldn't even acknowledge his calls, text or even bodily visits, she would just hop through a portal and not be seen, taking Nachos with her.

It would have been easy to pin the mess on Star or some other persons, but he was just afraid and even bored at his life in Mewni as a lowly squire, Hekapoo represented a lifelong adventure and he wanted to have that in his life permanently.

And he dashed it to pieces.

Marco paced around the library, picking out books again and reading a few on Mewman history, trying to understand where the hate for monsters erupted: and it all seemed at the advent of Mewman landing here. The ghost made it clear that Mewman ancestors fought the monsters before, while it may have been for survival, it seemed that the hot-bloodedness continued well after the disappearance of the previous monsters.

To any onlookers, monster especially, the Mewmans were savages who attacked first and the monsters here were probably bystanders pulled in causing strife generations later.

Star's solution seemed off to Marco after his talk to the ghost.

And Buttercup, he looked so eerily similar to Toffee, but without the aura or desire for something evil.

He shook his head at the thought, he would not talk to those two again, he would be inviting trouble and Star talking to Eclipsa was already enough, he didn't need to be linked to an unknown knight that could possibly lying or a monster akin to Toffee.

His eyes fell upon a book he pulled amongst the rest, it didn't have any writings on it but it was extremely old. With great care, Marco opened it and found it was a list of curses, rituals and celestial events that took place in Mewni, he read a few and tapped his chin thoughtfully,

"Early Mewmans were really into astronomy, I wonder if the old Butterflys took to it…probably did." Marco thought out loud, from all the family Marco had met, they all had something to do with astronomy.

He turned the pages, reading events and constellations, some very similar to Earth's own before he came to a page he wasn't expecting to find:

 **The Blood Moon Dance**

A wondrous event that takes place every 667 years, according to text and artifacts found, participants who danced beneath it's vibrant crimson light would forever be bond by soul and destiny.

The location of said dance does not matter, however the dancers must have a partner and if strong feelings of affection, lover or devotion aren't already present, they would manifest afterwards. This has been recorded by several happy marriages, one famously was a prince and princess of warring countries falling in love and peace between both countries was achieved [before a calamity of fire and rock devastated both].

It is said that the dancers would have their soul and destiny interlocked by the very goddess that resides on the moon, she would step forth and lovingly intertwine the two unseen to all as well as the dancers. If multiple dancers were present, many of them will become close friends with each other and raise their children together.

Marco read the passage many times, looking at the picture on the worn parchment, while he believe what he read, it made a terrible ache in his heart. He sighed and turned the page, reading some more:

Some adverse circumstances rose however due to some of the dancers personal history and such leading some to attempt to break the binding. However, all recorded instances has failed as no one could appease the goddess to undue the woven fate of the dancers. This had lead to war, devastation and many unhappy endings despite happy marriages, as such the dance had been restricted to those who fully understood the consequence of the dance and some even calling it a curse for the unprepared and ill-informed.

Those who have attempted and failed to remove the curse are…

Marco felt his gut turn, there were numbers alright, however they were slashed and new numbers were written. It didn't bode well when the numbers ran out of space on the page, it was well past tens of thousands and Marco felt sick to his stomach.

"A curse…that's—"

 _Insulting if you ask me. I bestow the one thing that you mere mortals search for lifetimes for and throw it at my face, quite ungrateful you lot are._

Marco sprang to his feet, poised for combat when he saw a beautiful woman clad in red flowing garbs covering her modesty, her red hair and red eyes bore into the boy as she smiled, her full pink lips...

 _Ah, another one I have bestowed the gift…and dissatisfied with it…_

Marco gulped as the woman's beautiful features went from playful to somber, she calmly walked past him, he felt an ethereal aura about her, but when he turn to look at her, she wasn't there.

 _Mhmmm, ah, you are Marco…yes, I remember, you shared a dance with a princess, most would cherish it. Most._

Marco looked for the woman, she was sitting on the table, mere inches from him, her hand found his chin and she tilted his head to her eyes,

 _Trying to break my string of fate? Hmmm?_

"What…what does your binding do to the dancers?" Marco said after finding his voice, the woman sighed,

 _The short version is that you and your chosen will be happily married, however in some circumstance you could have some traits pass between you two to make your lives more…harmonious. Understanding of each's other feelings, improved sexual prowess, safe child bearing and other such necessities between the two, I can't magic you up gold to live on though, I affect the emotional not the physical plane._

Marco nodded slowly, "Yeah, that doesn't work with me and Star, if she can feel what I feel, then…the last parts don't really count."

The woman narrowed her eyes for a moment, _well…that's not a first, but I'm sure it'll work itself out in the end. Give it time._

"I want out though."

 _Does she feel the same, Marco? You must both want out of binding._

"She's dating someone else."

The woman tapped her chin, clearly she was confused at the story, she looked at him before closing her eyes, exhaling loudly before looking at him again,

 _You'll just have to trust things will work out, Marco. If you want out, Star must also agree to it and the unbinding would only require one impossible task. If it is one-sided, then you must perform three impossible tasks to completely undue my gift, and Marco it won't be easy, if one was could not be done what about three? Please, talk to her, Marco would't you be happier if she was in your arms? Spend dates and nights together? Grow old together with children?_

"Star…has always been my best friend…I don't know if I can see her as my lifetime lover."

The woman gave him a blank stare before leveling with him, it was an effort to not dart his eyes down to her awesome cleavage, _you are denser than Osmium Marco and I had to search my vast knowledge to find the most child appropriate insult in this rated Y7 show to use._

Marco frowned at the insult, "But Star—!"

But the woman had enough and raised her voice,

 _But nothing Diaz! I will not have my gift undone at your childish whimpers! Countless waited to be bound by love so true and yet you would throw it to my face? Sacrilegious! Your pain, your suffering? All moot! ALL OF IT._

"My pain isn't nothing! My suffering isn't NOTHING! I am to have feelings for her when she does not? Is this punishment? A curse?"

The woman looked at him coldly,

 _A curse? A punishment? Suffering? Marco Diaz, you whimpering selfish self righteous son of a bitch! You talk of suffering, curse and punishment? You have seen countless lives and worlds in your travels and time, do you think they have it worse than you? Someone who has so much potential yet squanders it? Do you know how much ire that causes?_

Marco felt a spark of anger at the words, "So I'm to shoulder anything and everything thrown at me?! No matter how it breaks me? What about my happiness? I have no say? Am to be robbed of my choices no matter what I do?!"

The woman flared up in anger before slowly did her hair and red flowing fabric calm, her face contorted with absolute anger shed away and she smiled warmly at Marco, she batted her eyelashes at him and whispered her words, as if he spelled out his own doom.

 _Jackie said it best…_ "You know what I like about you is that even after a humiliating crushing defeat: you just pick yourself right back up and hop right back on kind of like skateboarding." _You already are on your way to redemption, Marco, because you know you will, no matter how much you are tormented, humiliated, ashamed or haunted, you will pick yourself back up and pursue Star, as it is your fate. That's one of your key defining features, Marco, YOU WILL make your way back to Star Butterfly._

The mention Jackie struck Marco, but he didn't falter, "People change, and so can I. If that feature defines me, then I will remake myself and be someone else."

 _Oh Marco, like you could relinquish something so precious.  
And as if I would let you._

Marco stood up from the chair slowly, "Y-you're no goddess…you're a monster, it is a curse."

The woman smiled knowingly at him, she wagged a finger at him, _oh just to let you know, if you try to tell someone that I came to visit you or such…by my powers, they will not believe you, oh don't try to circumvent it I had plenty of practice these many many eons with many desperate determine dancers, there hasn't been one trick I haven't seen._

Marco took a step back as the woman hopped off and walked towards him and he retreated, he pressed against the wall as she stood in front of him in full height, she smiled widely at him, he trembled at her,

 _It isn't a curse, it is a gift, accept that you will forever have feelings for Star and your life will become so much better. Does it matter if she doesn't love you now? She will in the end._

"B-but then she doesn't have a choice! What if some prince likes her now? How could you do that?"

 _I do that? Marco, I didn't dance with her!  
YOU DID.  
SHE DID.  
Fates intertwine, love sublime!_

Marco stared at her, sweat dripping down his entire frame, she smiled and looked directly into his lovely brown eyes.

 _Now Marco…if you still want to undue my binding, all you need to do is complete 99 impossible tasks, ah, I can see your astonishment! Yes, 99! But…I do love three digit numbers, so what's one more, right? 100 impossible tasks to complete so I may in good faith remove my sacred bindings between you and Star! Yes, quite good deal right?_

Marco stared at her, horrified and she smiled with mad spiteful glee, _whose the monster now, Marco Diaz?_

He ducked and rolled between her legs and ran for the door, she laughed, _You know, if you just apologized and thanked me for my gift I would have shed that 100 off you!_

Marco stopped just before the door and slowly wheeled back to look at her, a look of fury in his eyes, "Quit your games. And your snide lies, monster. Don't think I see through you."

Marco didn't even flinch when the goddess appeared in front of him, a look of righteous fury in her eyes, _do you now? At least you're not a coward Marco, but you are bleeding mad to have a goddess among those who hate you._

Marco said nothing and turned his back on her, she smiled and cheerfully told him as he disappeared from view,

 _At least you think with your head, Marco! Had you done what I said—  
_ _I WOULD HAVE MADE IT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS! GOOD LUCK, MY BELOVED CHAMPION!_

She smiled and gently felt her flowing clothes, finding Marco's thread and painfully twisting and pulling it, but the thin red string did not snap just like it's owner, the goddess smiled before she seemingly melted into nothing.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

And that's how you make the Blood Moon Ball, one of the most important events and evidence for Starco and flip it on it's head, I am not a Starco hater, in fact I support that ship quite aggressively, enough to pick fights on social media. Starco though at first was so good, but with how Star and Marco are being developed...it's kinda hard for me to see the two romantically connected. I mean Star is intentionally making a rift so Marco doesn't hurt her again and Marco wants to have awesome adventures again, unlike his life on Earth.

So they are cleaved based on their development, so I understand why Star is going out with Tom since they are going through the same things, also Tom has like home court advantage. Marco is playing on the field with nothing to his name, kinda hard to compete.

I've talked and mingled with the community and things are super hectic, it's no joke whoever you support: Tomstar, Kellco, Starco, etc.

It's getting ugly out there, but thank you for taking the time to read my fanfic amongst the in-fighting and shipping wars.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	3. Chapter 3

.

 **Chapter 3**

Nightmares

 **XxXxXxXxX**

Buttercup looked through the many shelves of his library, he was busy pulling books for Marco to read to keep up with his studies and build up some knowledge of Mewni, it was a daunting task to find the right books, even though he had written them and kept it neutral, the lizard found it still difficult.

"The boy reminds me a lot of you."

"How so?" said an disembodied voice.

"Well, your head was mostly empty! At least in this land it is, he's having trouble adapting because he doesn't understand the norms of the land."

The ghost barked with laughter.

"And I also pity the boy. Torn away from everything he knows, it would be simpler if he went back to the land he came from, but it seems he is glued here until forced out."

"He might not have to wait that long for it to happen, tensions are high again, I could already smell the blood soaked field, and I'm already dead!"

"Indeed…I also sense something dark within him…I just hope what I give him will lead him to answers he needs and not what he wants."

The ghost hovered near a shelf, looking at a book, "You fear?"

"Yes. I fear. I fear for us all."

* * *

Marco walked down for breakfast, Star asked him the day before to help in the Laundry Room and this time to avoid going into lint catcher. At the crack of dawn he was there to work; Marco had always been an organized boy so matching clothes and whatnot wasn't too boring for him, Sir Lavabo was even impressed with his speed and skill, he offered him some refused leather armor, having cleaned them extensively.

He accepted them and left them in his room, Sir Lavabo insisted that he stitched his name on them lest they were taken by accident along with any more armor he would earn under his wing. The knight told him that a full set of armor usually took years to obtain usually because squires tend to commission them or make them if they had the hand for it. However, those times were far behind them, a diligent squire could earn their whole set by a year's time and with the technology available, it wasn't an impossible feat.

However, Marco wasn't sure the armory or craftsman would take any of his commissions and if they did, they would overcharge him simply because he didn't know any better. Still, Sir Lavabo could make the order but some of the armors Marco ended up cleaning were to his liking, he preferred the agile design and feel of the leather and cloth armor; less cumbersome than chain mail and plate armor. Besides, he didn't plan to get hit anyways, he was pretty agile, he's dodged and outmaneuver many of his opponent before through wit, skill and speed.

He was gifted with a gambeson, a brigandine and a leather belt and some sewing tools, the knight insisted he got it to fit his frame properly lest it fall off mid battle. Marco was already thinking of modifications he could do, making it easier for him to put it on and off.

Marco was surprised to see Star up already scarfing down her bowl of cornflakes, Marco took his seat as Moon and River ate,

"Good morning Queen Moon, River."

"Morning Marco."

"Morning, my boy!"

He reached for a bowl, pouring himself some cornflakes then milk and chewing on the slightly sweeten cereal.

"Marco, I heard you were helping down at Laundry Room, Sir Lavabo tells me you're a great help."

Marco swallowed and nodded, "I hope so, I did knock a couple of baskets and detergents."

River laughed, "Ah, that's paltry! Try falling inside the washer and having Lavabo fish you out!"

"River!"

"Who fell in?"

River chuckled, "Not saying names dear."

Star groaned before she slurped her cereal milk, Moon gave her a disappointed and disgusted look before the princess ran out of the room, no doubt organizing the party.

Marco shrugged before finishing his cereal ten minutes later and leaving as well. He wanted to get his armor modified but before he could reach his room, Star came running down the hall and grabbed his arm,

"Marco! My room now!"

"Wha—? Why? What happened?!"

He didn't get an answer and instead he was rushed to her room, he grunted as she skidded before letting him fly and landing on her bed before she magic locked her door and windows closed. Pony Head was already in the room looking through her phone,

"Earth turd…yay."

"Yeah, good to see you too." Marco replied dryly.

"Alright, we got our signatures, our Mewni princes and princesses guests, our monster guests, our friends and party stuff! All we need is a place to PARTY!"

Marco sat up and Pony Head whizzed around the room in high speed, "Finally gurl! Where are we partying at!?"

"Weeell, I was thinking in someone's kingdom! Maybe yours bestie?"

 **[Record scratch]**

"Er, B-Fly, while I would love to convert mah home into party central, Daddy still lives there and you met my psycho sisters."

"Wait, your sisters are psychos? You went to Pony Head's kingdom?" Marco questioned, Star was bummed at the explanation, Pony Head merely rolled her eyes, "Sorry Earth Turd, you weren't invited."

"I wasn't even told." Marco said gritted teeth.

"Ooh! B-Fly, how about your boyfriend's kingdom? There's monster living there already!"

"That could work…nah, can't. Demons don't like monster as much either. It's almost the same as here."

"Why? Monsters and demons don't seem that different."

"Marco, there's a very big difference!"

"Yeah, Marco, how insensitive!"

The karate boy looked at the two in disbelief, "REALLY? And that's rich coming from you Pony Head."

Star shook her head, "Marco, please you're distracting this brain storm!"

Marco folded his arms and let the two talk, it didn't even seem he was needed, why bring him anyways? He just laid back on Star's bed and thought to himself, how could he improve himself while he stayed in Mewni, obviously when he did go back to Earth he would need to catch up with his schoolmates, he needed his high school diploma after all, maybe he could get Queen Moon to write a report of what he had done here and take a national test or remedial classes to graduate.

 _Still, I would need to keep up with my studies here or be doing something scholarly…Buttercup left me books to read, I can write a report or thesis on my stay here and use that! But then again Queen Moon is always busy, River could help…maybe not, I need a discipline hand to convince Principal Skeeves… or maybe I should find some treasure and use that instead._

During his mulling Star and Pony Head shot suggestions back to each other, hoping to find a suitable answer.

But didn't find one after an hour of debating.

"Marco! Where's a rad place to have a party?" Star yelled waking him from his thoughts, he sat up for a moment and took stock of the room, it was once semi tidy and now it was definitely not, whatever the two princesses were doing he had no idea constituted this much mess.

"I don't know Star, you said you can't have it in a kingdom that's like Tom's, Pony Head's or yours, so maybe a neutral place? Did you ask the monsters where they are willing to meet?"

Star chewed on her wand before she grinned and hopped to her feet, "I got it! It's super secluded and monster would definitely go to it! Best part we can be as loud and crazy as we want and no one would complain!"

"Oh, gurl, teeell me the deets!"

"Okay, okay…we party at an old monster temple! It's abandoned, it's monster related so the monster will be comfortable, it's a temple so it's practically royalty too! Plus, there's plenty of space so we could have an even spread."

"Yesss! Alright, I'm gonna call up da crew, I gotta grab something special!"

"And I got to make a dozen mirror calls! Marco, can you help me call up this list?"

Marco took it and read it off, he frowned when Star immediately ran to her mirror and called up Tom first, he was expecting just a quick message and then to the next one, but when she sat down and made small talk he knew things wasn't gonna be done on time if left up to the princesses with their usual antics.

Marco kept his thoughts to himself and began to call or text the message out, he saw Kelly's name and purposely kept her last, even taking the message outside so he could have some privacy, not that Star or Pony Head would notice.

"You've reached Kelly!" came her cheerful voice.

"Hey, Kelly, I—?"

[Please leave your message after the tone. BEEP.]

Marco mentally sighed,

"H-hey, Kelly, just letting you know about the Monster Bash Star is setting up, I'll be there…yeah, of course I'll be there, what the heck am I saying? Oh, shoot, that's recording! Uh, yeah, see you there Kelly! If you could make it. Er, yeah. See you then. Bye."

Marco sighed at his fumble, "Ugh what is wrong with me?"

He looked at his phone and was surprised that so much replies were sent back, from paragraphs to the infuriating "K" replies, despite that Marco was glad that the event was taken positively.

He frowned when he got a phone call from an unknown number, he answered it cautiously,

"Hello?"

"Greetings!"

The voice was completely unfamiliar.

Marco hung up.

He frowned when the same number called back.

"Greetings! Is this Marco Diaz?"

"…yes?"

"WHY DID YOU HANG UP ON ME?"

"…is this Prince Richard?" Marco queried, he was answered with a hearty laugh,

"IT IS."

"Oh, okay. I'm hanging up now."

"Now hold your pigeons Marco, I want to know what is the fare and decor you have for the event, you're the Logistic Officer of Star Butterfly are you not?"

"I'm Star's squire."

"Same thing. Now answer my question."

Marco rolled his eyes and robotically recount what he saw on the list, "It's standard Mewman fare, Goblin hotdogs, punch, the works. Followed by decor of Star's making and entertainment provided by Pony Head Princess."

"Yes, yes, that sounds delightful. I am bringing my own decor to supplement Star's own, what time will you be at the location so I can have adequate time to move my prized sculptures and my native refreshments as well. I intend to bring a few of my own guests, will there be space to contain the revelry we will have?"

"It's a temple, I'm sure they had a section just to party. You can come by like 6 pm."

"Wonderful! See, Marco, you are an excellent Logistics Officer."

"Squire."

"Same thinggg!"

 **[CLICK]**

Marco closed his phone, "Ugh, it's like talking to a male Pony Head."

"Marco! Where are you?!"

* * *

 **[After the events of the Monster Bash episode]**

Marco sat with the other royals as the monsters left, the fuzz were all over the place, he could see some of the knights he competed against in Trial by Squire and he made a point not to make eye contact. But he knew it was a fruitless effort as they wrote their names down.

In the corner of Marco's eye, he could see Star and Tom were comforting each other and he also made it a point to not look at their direction either. Sullen, he took off his blanket and walked off to see Kelly simply looking out to the evening horizon. He wanted to offer his hoodie like before, but quickly remembered he came in his spiffy formal clothes, he tugged his tie before walking over.

"Hey, Kelly, are you alright?"

"Yeah…things got really crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, it did."

Kelly turned to face him, she roughed up but she looked fine, he reached out and rubbed her cheek a bit, "Sorry, you had a bit of…" "It's fine, Marco, I think I need a bath anyways, we did so much dancing, plus with the punch and the running, all sticky you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally. Um…" he gave her a quick hug and she giggled before opening a portal and waving good bye to him.

"I had fun, though. Night Marco."

"Good night."

Marco smiled as he waved back, but just as Kelly disappear out of view, he felt a sudden surge to his right arm, he winced and grabbed his sleeve.

 ** _Well, well, well. Looks like you definitely know how to play the field…MARCO._**

He broke out in cold sweat, he pulled the sleeve up, not caring if he tore his nice clothes, he looked at his arm in the pale moonlight and felt his heart falter for a second.

There was a patch of a gross purple mark.

One he was very familiar with.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

Yikes.

From bad to worse, things are definitely not going Marco's way, but the question is: can it get any worse? The answer is yes, it can and it will, Daron Nefcy will see to that we suffer for our ships. Plus, the next episodes are a couple days away, my fanfic can fill in that empty void we all have right now.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	4. Chapter 4

.

 **Chapter 4**

Betrayal

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

"Star, this is serious! I heard it, I heard Monster Arm again!"

"Marco, I know I zapped it away for good!"

Marco gave her an aghast look as she rifled through her room, as if looking for something, Globgar was sleeping on the bed despite all the chaos Star was making.

"It said it would be back, and it is back! Star, there has to be a way to get rid of it for good!"

"Marco, I don't have my spell book anymore! Glossaryk isn't around to give advice or examine your arm! We don't have anyone who could fix it!"

"How about your mother? She's seen all sorts of things, she probably read the spell book front to back, she has to know!"

Star stopped and looked at him, "She's not in the best of mood to ask for help Marco, especially since the Monster Bash! She's getting every prince and princess examined for anything monster related contamination! If she knows you have a monster arm she's going to flip! Then she will trace it back to me and it's not going to be pretty! Haven't you heard what my dad said?!"

"Star, I think she's more preoccupied with Meteora." Marco said softly, he held his arm again, feeling the surge of unpleasant pain, she looked at him with concern.

"Marco…I'm sorry I did that to you, but right now I can't—!"

"Star? Ah cooties boy, why are you all flustered about?" Eclipsa came to the room, the portrait of the captain open.

Star gave Marco a look and he understood: they were not to speak about Meteora.

"Marco is…afflicted."

"Is he sick? He can go to a physician, they'll take care of you. So long as you avoid the ones that uses the guillotine on their door. They solves everything with it."

"…yeah, I'll definitely avoid them." Marco said quietly.

"So what are you sick with? Cooties?" Eclipsa giggled, Marco sighed before shoving his arm forward, "Worse: Monster Arm, ever heard of it?"

Eclipsa's face fell and she tenderly held his arm, looking at it, "Goodness boy, this is serious! It's reached an advance stage, it could sprout any moment!"

"Great. More bad news."

Eclipsa looked at it, poking his arm and veins, holding it up to the light, "It's trying to manifest but it seems you have built up an immunity to it…for now, eventually it will break free. I would recommend Star fixing it."

"She doesn't know a spell to fix it, Glossaryk isn't right in the head and we can turn to no one."

Eclipsa blinked.

"I know a spell that can get rid of Monster Arm for good."

Star and Marco stared at her.

"YOU DO!?" they yelled in unison.

Eclipsa smiled nodding her head, "Normally purging would be first option but in this advance stages, it could kill the boy, also converting the monster DNA into the boy's own can be extremely risky as the monster DNA could instead resist causing lifelong problems or worse, Marco turns into a full blooded monster. Not really a downside if you think about it."

"Uh, yes, big downsides for me."

The queen shrugged before looking at the arm again, her darken hands gently caressing the skin, Marco suddenly felt very uncomfortable, "The next best option is to cancel out the monster DNA with something just as powerful: arcane magic. I've studied it extensively so I'm confident I can remove this, er, wart from him without any issues."

"Oh, that's a relief, so when can we start?"

Eclipsa looked at Marco's hopeful face, she shook her head a bit before turning to Star, "I can do it, no doubt about it, but whoever cast Monster Arm on you will be more effective, more…guaranteed it will work. I can teach you the necessary spell, I can make preparation for the ritual but you'll be performing the spell work. There will be tremendous amount of magic when performed, arcane magic tends to do that."

"How about forbidden magic? Dark magic?" Marco asked, Eclipsa smiled knowingly, "That's just names for arcane magic, you see, when Mewmans don't understand something they say it's 'dangerous' without really knowing it. Is a sword bad because it can kill a mewman? But we get to use swords to defend ourselves as well! Arcane magic is like that, improper use of it will hurt the recipient and the caster, just like any thing in the world really. Abuse something good and it will make terrible consequences for all."

Star looked at her wand for a moment before Eclipsa's scarred arms and thinking of her mother's, "Will…will it leave a mark on me?"

Eclipsa saw her hesitation as did Marco, "Casting Monster Arm might have not, your arms look fine to me, but maybe casting the spell I will teach you might."

Star looked at her wand, to Eclipsa then to Marco, "Is…is there some other way to get rid of it?"

"Star…?"

The queen saw her face, she frowned, "Star, I know it's a daunting thought, but the boy will be in great pain and it will be worse when the arm finally manifest, don't you think it will be very resentful to him when it comes back? The boy will be a cast out from Mewman society because of his affliction!"

"I know, I know! I just…" Star looked afraid, she gripped her wand tightly, "Marco could you wait after mom is done examining everyone? I'll definitely cure you afterwards, I promise!"

"Star…" Marco tugged on his sleeve, hiding his purple mark.

 ** _She's definitely having second thoughts, boy. Might be easier to sweep you under the rug…_**

Eclipsa looked less than pleased at the scene, "Star, your mother is doing a rather great job in examining all the wild kids at the party, oh don't think I don't know what kids like to do! She won't miss that mark at all, the boy could be shunned out of the kingdom or worse: imprisoned for life."

"Argh! Stop! STOP! I can't think right now!" Star cried, she paced around her room, her thoughts wild, "First the party, then the examinations, now Marco!"

"Am I just a problem to you, Star?" Marco whispered, but she didn't hear. Eclipsa patted him on the shoulder, "Go to your room. Pack your things, you might have to leave the kingdom, I…?"

Marco didn't argue and left silently, leaving Eclipsa with Star who began to shout at the top of her lungs at things falling apart around her, no doubt him being around made things more difficult for her. He walked slowly to his room, not caring if the staff shot him disapproving eyes openly.

He opened his door and shut it behind him.

He felt defeated.

He felt alone.

There was a hole where Jackie left him, but now there was an even bigger hole after Star's reluctance to help him. It was slow, but anger began to pulse through his veins, thick and fiery, he was pushed aside because he had turned into a liability.

"STAR…" Marco managed to utter through his teeth, it felt like he was going to explode, his rage building up inside of his entire being.

Another part of him just want to curl into a ball, feeling the crushing disappointment and loneliness of his dilemma. He refused to shed any tears, so much had already happen and things were begin to look so hopeless now, how could he return to Earth with an arm that was clearly a threat to himself and anyone in his vicinity?

 ** _Puh-leez, as if I would jeopardize myself…I will admit I am still bitter you chose to get rid of me…but I have looked into my many hearts to forgive you pathetic boy._**

The voice was smug, Marco clapped his hands over his ears.

 **PATHETIC.**

Marco felt his blood turn into fire, he got a good look at his arm, the purple mark was still small, he glanced around his room, his eyes falling on a box cutter, "…"

 ** _Ah…going to carve me out? Hmph, you make it sound as if I am a pimple. I AM INSIDE OF YOU, MARCO. I will not be sooo easy to get rid of…THIS TIME._**

"We will see about that…"

Marco stomped towards the box cutter, the razor edge glint in the light and he aimed it at the purple mark, he felt sweat on his brow and neck as he pressed the blade, drawing blood.

 ** _You don't have the guts, Marco._**

"…"

"What are you doing!?"

Marco flinched the box cutter clattering to the floor, Eclipsa was hopping out of the wall passage, he gaped at her, "Nevermind your questions! Lock your door!"

He blinked, confused but what he was asked anyways, crossing the room and bolting it while she picked up the box cutter before tossing on the desk, "That's not how you get rid of a thing like Monster Arm, you'll just scar yourself silly until having purple skin, warts, slime and tentacles sounds like a better choice."

Marco paused at the door, suddenly he was alone with the queen, he could alert the guards…but then what would be the point? He wasn't gonna get his arm fixed either way from Queen Moon or Star, Eclipsa wasn't an option he wanted but if she could do something about it…

 _I know…I'm going to regret this…_

As if she could hear him, Eclipsa smiled sweetly at him, patting on the bed, "Mind if I could sit here? Not afraid of my cooties are you?"

"Not anymore." Marco rubbed his arm, she smiled sympathetically.

"While I'm no saint about using 'dangerous magic', Star is in a very precarious position at the moment, so don't think too badly about her."

"So, she gets a pass for doing this to me?"

Eclipsa smiled at him, "Would it make you feel better if I told you that I am extremely furious with her at the moment? Because experimenting on oneself, while bad, limit itself to one person, experimenting on another is inexcusable and monsterous. I practice the arcane arts, but I never sought to hurt anyone or teach others, I pursued it for knowledge so that other's may not follow where I trend. How will you know what is bad if you don't even know it at all?"

Marco sat with her and she took his arm, he could feel the course feeling of her dark bleached hands, "You did that to yourself…"

"I knew they wouldn't understand, no one did. My mother appreciated my talents and creative mind, she loved me dearly…even at her deathbed, she urged me to be a princess of my own making. I wasn't a conventional princess even less as a Queen, so many saw my ideas and beliefs as dangerous from the norm. But my Mewman husband, rest his soul…he loved me, he cherished me, I was his rose and all my thorns did not deter the love he would shower me with. I had many memorable days with him.

…but eventually he saw I wasn't happy or in loved with him, even as I cradled our child in my bosom…I didn't mean to…hurt him when I ran off with my monster lover.

He died of a broken heart with a child who…resented me.

I had one with my lover…I don't even know if she still lives…oh Meteora…"

Eclipsa sniffled, rubbing her tear soaked eyes, she smiled weakly at Marco, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm here to help you, but I'm just a mess right now."

Marco felt his heartache at the story, he swallowed and patted her shoulder, she wrapped herself around him and cried, she lived in a time not of her own, a family of strangers and a history that hated her. The entire world was out to get her.

Marco didn't know how long he sat with the sobbing Queen, but when she could stop hiccuping, she tried to smile cheerily at him, "Sorry…I can't believe I've showed…something so embarrassing…you won't go telling others?"

"Oh…heck no."

Eclipsa smiled before she wiped her eyes and looked at his arm, she shook her head as her hands glowed, "It really isn't looking good, it spread past your arm, I can force it back and contain it but it will manifest faster, being concentrated and all. Instead of realizing in your late adult life, it will sprout before you are 20, it must be undone then."

"If you force it back or leave it spread out, will Queen Moon still detect it?"

"No doubt about it. She's not taking any chances and I think that frightens Star, she's seen her mother's arms and she's seen my own, arcane magic is very powerful and often marks the spell caster."

Marco looked away, "I asked Star to fix my arm after I broke it, thinking her magic could do no wrong…Monster Arm was the result. Star isn't at fault, I am."

Eclipsa turned his chin to face her, she smiled even as he cried silently, "It takes a lot of courage to own up to your mistakes, I won't deny that what you asked was unbelievably stupid, but Star shouldn't have used magic to fix your arm. Why did you need to repair your arm so quickly?"

"A showoff kid at my dojo would have claimed I was afraid of him, so…" Marco didn't have the heart to finish his story, Eclipsa nodded, "Foolhardy, if I say so, yes, but not all mistakes should be so…fatal even though sometimes it is. I will perform the spell in Star's stead, although being in that crystal for centuries has taken a massive toll on my magic and without the wand I can't exactly use it's raw power and connection…what to do…"

Marco waited as Eclipsa muttered to herself, he couldn't help but feel guilty that this mess was his fault, had he not been so worried what one kid thought of him he could have saved himself some grief.

 _No sense crying about it…I should apologize to Stat when I see her again…_

"Someone's growing up~"

Marco blinked, Eclipsa grinned at him, "What? Why do you say that?"

"It's all over your face, pretty easy to read. But enough about your adorable face, let's fix your arm."

"So…you figured out a way to fix it?"

"Yes, it will work, however since I don't have the necessary power to do it in one fell swoop, I will have to substitute it with another power source: you."

Marco froze at the words, she had a firm grip on him, "I know 'dark magic' frightens you, but you have to trust me, you have to trust Eclipsa, the Queen of Darkness, that my magic will not harm you but heal your affliction…if you don't it will not work."

Marco felt his hair stand on ends, Eclipsa was looking at him with such intensity, he felt his mouth move on its own, "Y-yes…I understand."

Eclipsa smiled before she stood up, "Okay…now strip."

"WHAT?! NO!" Marco wrapped himself with his arms.

"Boy, I've seen skinny ribs before and I meant just your shirt! What were you thinking, I'm a married woman! Happily I might add!" Eclipsa said quickly and embarrassed as well.

It took them a minute to calm down before Eclipsa began to make the necessary preparations, drawing with an ink brush unfamiliar runes and glyphs all over his chest, arm, shoulder and back. Lighting candles and making magic circles,

"How will this work…?"

"Simple, you see Monster Arm is sentient, it feeds on negativity and whatnot until it can realize itself, eventually the build up would destroy your arm and any apparatus infected and could soundly kill you, burst out of your chest if it could or take over your body. The inscriptions I wrote onto you will slowly charge itself and pacify the beast until it is utterly eradicated, you can fuel it with something unorthodox: positive emotions, but it doesn't have to come from you, helping others will also fuel the charm and prayers and blessings wouldn't hurt. And magical artifacts, but be careful you could poison yourself if you ingest so much in one time, just know it will take time to fix your arm but it will be well worth the wait."

The magic inscription turned gold as Eclipsa whispered the spell:

 **Let this charm protect  
** **Goodness and blessing connect  
** **That this man be healed  
** **Until then let the beast be sealed**

 **Three life debts repealed**

Marco froze at the last part, Queen Eclipsa smiled hauntingly at him, "Did you think I would make that easy for you, boy? Hmph, I did put Monster Arm in there after all…"

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

Mwahahaha, lied again. When will Marco ever learn? NEVER TRUST A BUTTERFLY.  
Kidding!  
Or am I? Yep, I'm definitely kidding.

Just a few more days before December 2 and the fandom can go into another tizzy. Most likely it will cream this fanfic of mine, they always do.

[Fix a lil problem, thanx KrashThunder]

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	5. Chapter 5

.

 **Chapter 5**

Fury

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

 **"MONSTER ARM WAS YOURS!?"**

"Yes, but I thought no one would ever be so foolish to use it, I wrote it on someone's else chapter to be spiteful, I was 14 lots of hormones and dreams. I'm sorry."

Marco looked ready to kill.

He is going to kill.

Without warning his hand closed around Eclipsa's throat, even in a death grip she looked calm as ever, if a little worried.

"I wouldn't blame you. We are creature of emotions, I did something horrible to you and you are warranted to that anger."

Marco felt his face contort hatefully, he could feel the steady pulse of Eclipsa, the heat of her body…it would be _so_ easy to strangle her, he doubted she would fight back. He could say she snuck in to hurt him and the guards would no doubt believe him.

Then Star would hate him.  
But didn't she hate him already?

…

Marco felt his hate mount.  
Then it dropped like a rock.

He shakily sighed and put his arm down, Eclipsa rubbed her neck slightly before cupping his cheek, he sniffled in his weakness. His inability to follow through. A fault of being forgiving.

"You're a kind boy…that's a quality not very Mewmans have."

"I'm not mewman…I'm human."

"None the less, I'm glad you are who you are. Such a sweet boy."

"Don't treat me like a kid…" "Oh? And how old are you?"

"I just turn fifteen…"

"Ah, not yet a man, but no longer a boy. You say just turned?"

He nodded, the queen smiled, she kissed him on the forehead,

"Well, happy belated birthday. I haven't gotten you a gift have I? I'll put some thought into one then."

Marco shook his head at the offer.

Eclipsa giggled and pulled on his cheek, she looked apologetic and horribly guilty for a moment, "Boy, I promised that I would help you didn't I? This charm, this spell…will work even if I die should that happen. I made sure you will be cured no matter how long it takes, whether I draw breath or you take it with your sword arm dance!"

Marco felt sick at the lengths that Eclipsa would do for him, especially since he seriously thought of strangling her. He glanced down to his torso, the inscription continued to move and finally formed a Roman numeral three on his chest, the purple mark vanished.

"…why three?"

"Well…if you wanted to speed up the process, you could: the catch is you most save me from mortal peril thrice. Each time you do, magic will be sapped from myself and transferred to you as a means to destroy Monster Arm."

"And if I do it three times?"

"Simple: I die. Or fall into coma. Or become frail unable to fight or eat chocolates, such a terrible fate. However, I gladly give that to you."

Marco narrowed his eyes at such a generous gesture, "WHY? I'm a total stranger, you don't even know my name! It's always 'boy'!"

Eclipsa smiled, "You never told me, that's why."

"…It's Marco. Marco Diaz."

Eclipsa's eyes twinkled at the name.

"Well, Marco Diaz, I would do it for you. For Star. For my family. For friends. For strangers. I do this Marco because I don't have to know you to do something generous, my mother did that and she was happy and loved…when she died I had such shoes to fill…how could I ever measure up? She knew I couldn't be like her, so she told me to be myself. Someone would see me as I am…and she was right."

Marco traced the three on his chest before trying to stop yawning but failed anyways, Eclipsa giggled, "Well, that's enough heart rending emotions for one night, I want my fuzzy slippers."

He glanced down and indeed she was barefoot, she waved to him before tracing a finger on his wall and it opened up again and she disappeared from view. Marco waited for a moment before he turned in for the night, he wanted it to be daybreak already so he could apologize to Star as soon as possible.

* * *

"Star left? Where?"

Marco sat at the table with Queen Moon and River, the king shrugged while Moon rubbed her temples, "Marco, I don't know, all these antics of hers has been bogging down the examinations and investigations, you came out just fine, Star is the last one to be checked."

Marco frowned at the news, he wasn't expecting Star to gone without any notice and Moon dragging him down for an hour long examination was more so. It was a very tense hour as Moon and the Magical High Commission probed and ran tests on him, he didn't make eye contact with Hekapoo and she did the same making him feel a wee more guilty.

"Are you sure she didn't tell you anything?"

"Yeah…I'm just as clueless."

Marco ate his cold cereal before bidding the two as he ran back to his room and geared up, deciding to use his new attire for his search for Star. Marco looked out his window, seeing that the kingdom hustling and bustling, he scanned the place before his eyes fell on the grove, he could barely see it but no doubt those manicured tree's were Buttercup's.

Walking to the grove, Marco could feel less eyes on him, most likely since his attire was more Mewman, he sorta blended in. He ran through the forest again and slid down the slope into the grove, he was careful where he walked until he reached the weathered tombstone.

"Ghost? Are you around here?"

"Ever present, lad."

Marco knelt down, "I need to find a friend of mine, the princess of the kingdom, do you know any way to track her down?"

The ghost merely hummed before responding, "If I still breathed I could teach you how to track, trap and hunt. The universal mewman job. However, this is outside my realm."

"Finding friends are often harder than finding enemies." Buttercup spoke up, coming out of the tree's shade, "Have you been reading the books I've lent you?"

"I have, but it seems like I need to be learning all sorts of things. I need to find Star, I don't know where she could have run off to."

Buttercup nodded, "Next time I visit, you'll have to follow me here to this grove; I will teach you how to track, trap and hunt as it is the mewman's way and it will be yours too while you stay here."

"But how about Star?"

Buttercup paused before looking at him curiously, "Marco, do you know where she is? Do you have any leads or contacts?"

"I've called her friends, my friends but none of them seen her."

"Or they lied to you, ah don't make that face, Star could have asked them to do that."

Marco wasn't too keen on the idea of his friends hiding Star, Buttercup could see his frustration, "Marco, do you think she's going to get into trouble or do something reckless?"

"When it's Star…maybe? I don't know."

"Well, I can see you are distracted right now, I would suggest postponing this lesson of ours until you can focus, I am an unyielding teacher, I do not take lightly to teaching any of my proteges."

"I can attest to that, he taught me a great deal even after death."

Buttercup nodded, "Marco, go look for Star when you decide to come back I will have lessons on how to track, how to construct traps, the ability to hunt in the wild and the tools and weapons, how to survive in the wild and correctly identifying fauna and flora, marksmanship and archery, survival skills and wilderness cooking, elemental and familiar magic and anything else I can cram into that head of yours."

Marco looked at Buttercup for a moment, "Why? Why are you two so keen on helping me? I just stumbled into your grove by accident."

"Put simply Marco, we see someone with potential, I've extended this offer to any monster or mewman to learn under our wing and we have been turned down most of the time."

"Lad, your situation is similar to mine, in a way I want you to have a chance I didn't receive until I was much much too old to enjoy it."

Marco slowly nodded, eyes downwards as he walked out of the grove, the two watched him silently.

"He's a good kid."

"Aren't we all?"

* * *

Marco didn't find Star that day and instead leapt from portal to portal in a vain attempt to find her. In the end, he fell on his bed, exhausted tossing his armor into the floor, soaked with sweat.

"Gotta wash those in the morning…"

Marco breathed heavily as his thoughts fell back to Buttercup's offer, he would learn so much from him and the ghost, he would be a force to be reckoned with whether he was on Mewni or Earth. He smiled at the thought, still not finding Star was troubling.

The sound of magic happening in the castle got him to sit upright and he threw on his hoodie and ran out the door. He stopped at Star's room and knocked before opening it, "Star!"

Marco was greeted with Star Butterfly looking at him disheveled, she looked as if she was outdoors all day.

"Marco, yay…"

"What happened? Wait, let me help you."

He helped Star to her bed, she flopped backwards, "Thanks Marco…I'm pretty tired…"

"Where have you been? You've been gone all day, I was actually looking for you."

Star just turned to the side.

"I was looking for a way to cure you, followed a few leads but they were all phonies." she said glumly, Marco flexed his arm for a moment before looking at her, "I'm glad you wanted to cure Monster Arm away, but I found a way to get rid of him."

Star pushed herself up and looked at him, eyes wide in disbelief, "You can get rid of it!? Why didn't you tell me!"

"You never answered your phone!"

"How are going to fix it, Marco?"

"Eclipsa found a way to cure it, she said it will definitely work, there's no need for you to use arcane magic."

Star looked uncertain at the news but she didn't voice it instead she groaned and fell back to her bed, Marco shook his head and unlaced her boots and put them down on the floor, Star sighed wiggling her toes.

"Socks too squire."

Marco rolled his eyes before peeling them down her leg, he blushed seeing exposed legs so close, the damp socks fell beside the boots.

"You're all sweaty Star, you should take a shower."

"Later…tired…can't move…"

Marco was sure she was just gonna fall asleep. But he shrugged, she was a princess after all, she could do whatever she wanted.

"Alright then, good night, Star."

"Mhmmm, g'night."

* * *

Thanks to the Monster Bash, Eclipsa's trial was in disarray, nobles and royalty of foreign lands had to be quelled, Mina Loveberry's reappearance sparked a kingdom wide search and monsters were being policed more forcibly once again. Star had become doubly more busy as she followed her parents or on her own for these "diplomatic" visits, no doubt trying to straighten things out.

Marco found himself lots of free time because Star often came back late into the night or sometimes not for a few days, exhausted and in need of sleep and a hot bath. Any days off she had, she spent sleeping it away or being whisked away by Pony Head or Tom, Marco took the hint pretty quickly that it was relaxation for her.

It was painful at first to be left out, it felt as if he was an interloper, watching Star be led away at the promise of fun and relaxation from a hard day's work. He understood Pony Head, she was Star's "bestie" long before he met her, but whenever it was Tom, it just made his heart ache.

His walk to his room or out of the castle whenever he saw the scene always reminded him of songs from Earth…

 ** _Baby you're so perfect  
_** ** _But he's the perfect one for me  
_** ** _I know that you're worth it  
_** ** _But something about him gets to me, gets to me,  
_** ** _All of me, plus we got history_**

 ** _I used to love him  
_** ** _He used to love me  
_** ** _Yeah we go way way way way back  
_** ** _We love love love like that_**

 ** _Now I still love him  
_** ** _And he still loves me  
_** ** _Yeah we go way way way way back  
_** ** _We love love love like that_**

"How are you still here?!"

 ** _Don't think I am blind, deaf and dumb to see what you intend to do to me…I deserve a chance to life, am I not a victim of circumstance as well?_**

"No, you're a parasite."

 ** _Ah, well, can't blame a Monster Arm for trying._**

Marco sighed and stormed off into oblivion.

* * *

Marco spent less and less time inside the castle during that period and more in the grove learning from Buttercup and the ghost. The Blood Moon Ball curse felt so strong…so real, Marco wanted to bury his anguish in the schooling of the two, Buttercup was relentless in his training.

 **Tracking**

"Now, tracking your prey takes a keen eye, you must be aware that sometimes what you are following knows it so it will make decoys for misdirection. A broken twig, upturn gravel, fallen leaves, a footprint, minute details can tell you so much if you only pay attention."

 **Trapping**

"The art to trapping is making sure to use the right ones for your prey, snares for small game, spear or killing traps for bigger game. You can just about trap about anything so long you know what you are hunting. Marriage is the greatest trap of all."

"…"

"…"

"Um, Buttercup…are you…married?"

"Yes, to a lovely leopard gecko, my wife will be around next time, she makes a mean cornbread."

"That she does."

 **Ropecraft**

"The cattail is one of the most versatile flora you could find in the wild, so long as you can find it you can make tinder, fibers for rope, eat certain parts, plenty of utility."

"Uh…"

"No, Marco, the top part are not hotdogs."

 **Shelter**

"See Marco, the key is to make a suitable home in the wilderness, however sometimes using the environment can be helpful: sleeping in caves, trees and underground. Just be sure you're not bunking with someone you aren't expecting like bears or scorpions. And use the materials you find to make a home that fits your needs, no need to built a mansion when a tidy hut will do."

"Matilda you're really insight, have you lived in the wilderness before?"

"Yes, I have, I live a little ways off from here, Buttercup loves his library and I love my orchard over yonder, but we always make time for each other. Dinner dates and moonlight strolls, like when we were younger."

"Like always, Honeysuckle~"

"Ooh, Buttercup~"

Marco had his eyes shut by the ghost, "Sorry lad this is a private show." "Are you watching?!"

"…maybe."

 **Hunting**

"Hunting takes all the skills I have hence taught you, it require patience, careful planning and attuning your spirit and body to nature. Taking a life is never an easy burden so must you honor each kill, respect the life it once had and what it gives to you in return for it's body. You only hunt for what you need and not for gain, you don't slaughter a herd of deer only to consume one and leave the rest to rot, that is wasteful and awful to the bounty nature. The more you hunt and attune to primal nature, you'll be enlighten in ways you wouldn't believe."

 **Foraging**

"So maybe you can't hunt or trap anything in a day, that's when your survival know how comes in: identifying edible greens, berries, nuts, mushrooms, grubs and the like will be your snacks and safe havens."

"You have done this before…right?"

"Yes, while I lived. Believe me, sometimes I experimented and led me to wonderful discoveries…"

"Um…ghost you're spacing out."

"I know I am lad…it's a trip."

 **Cooking**

"This fucking corn is fucking raw!" Buttercup threw a corn ear at Marco tripping him over.

"I can't cook in these conditions!"

 **Flora**

"Normally I make you eat these berries and watch you crap your pants, but after the last one…I'm not going to do that."

"What happened last time?"

"Let's just say his last student had a good arm."

"I'm going to walk you through my garden and point out edibles and poisonous ones. So pay close attention."

 **Fauna**

"Ever killed a living breathing animal with your bare hands before?"

"N-no?"

"Well, you're learning today." Buttercup handed him a rabbit.

"Twist the neck so it dies quickly oh and don't—!"

"OW!"

"…place the hind legs on your lap. Alright hop up and down, I'm going to get an ice pack for your jewels."

 **Archery**

"Alright, no funny business, you're not a filthy Hanzo main, don't go trying backflipping and shoot the arrows! Or summoning dragons!"

 **Marksmanship**

"Alright, no funny business, you're not a filthy McCree main, don't go yelling 'it's high noon!". Trickshots included!"

 **Elemental Magic**

"Fire bad."

 **Familiar Magic**

"You can bond with animals if you can tame or befriend them, if your bonds are strong they can lend their life-force, their gifts to you for brief time. Bond to an eagle and your eyesight can be enhanced, bond to a bear and your strength is quadrupled, bond to a sure footed deer and you can run with grace and speed. Bond to a fish and you'll swim like one. Bond to a bull and you can [bleep] like one!"

"…"

"…"

"What?"

 **Throwing**

"Sometimes in extreme situations you might have to use something as a deadly projectile, we'll practice with some tools that can turn into lethal deathblows, you just need to know how to throw it. Knives, darts, spades, tree branches, hammers, swords, spears, clubs, rocks, your own feces can become deadly weapons."

"…"

"The last one is especially true."

 **Gardening**

"Someday you'll settle down in a location and decide to hunt only when necessary so you begin to plant greens, herbs and vegetables. You must know what is safe to eat, how to store them and how to ensure there will be bounty the next season. Plant what you can harvest reliably. Trade or barter with what you cannot."

 **Weapons**

"In the wilderness you can craft all manner of tools and weapons to help you survive and defend yourself. Wood can be sharpen into stakes, spears and clubs, stones like flint can be made into crude axes, knives and arrowheads. You can even improvise mundane things into weapons if you can think openly, anything Marco can be a weapon."

"But—!"

"FECES CAN BE A WEAPON!"

 **Firecraft**

"Building a fire is essential in the wilds, it keeps you warm, cooks your food and purifies your water, gives you charcoal, keeps hunger animals from you, allows you to send smoke signals and a variety of things. You need to learn how to make it, maintain it, know what to use as tinder, kindling and fuel so you don't use it at the wrong order."

"…"

"What?"

"Nothing, just sometimes you give really silly advice."

"I do not. You're practically learning from my mistakes."

"Right. Thank you sensei for making those mistakes."

.

The training from the two were while silly sometimes, were quite serious as Buttercup and the ghost stressed the level of being accurate when discussing things that could kill him or feed him. From mushrooms to tracks he should follow, Marco paid close attention making sure he understood the instructions carefully.

He spent weeks with the two, learning not only the ancient mewman way of life to the finer qualities like wordplay, swordplay, politics, theories, government, philosophy, knowledge, academia, science, physics, applied mathematics, biology, tactics, escape artistry and more. He was especially surprised that Buttercup knew how to fight, moving like a reed or a whip, striking with more finesse than strength.

"Power is easy, a burly mewman can use it all day, but technique, that's my domain. I can fight a hundred mewmans without breaking form while they scurry around me or use tactics I can easily escape or counter. Don't get me wrong, having all technique but not power doesn't work so well, you must have a balance to each, I lean more to technique so I'm not charging like a bull at a target."

Buttercup gave him a short sword and him a rapier, Marco thought he would easily overwhelm him but to his astonishment, the lizard was toying with him and he flop down, exhausted after a few minutes.

"Fighting is also about knowing my enemies, you are a novice so I know you will expend more energy and be more inexperienced in a duel. That and I know you have no magic and rely on your martial arts to combat foes, so a melee weapon was hurting your chances."

Marco just glared at the lizard, the ghost barked with laughter.

"C'mon lad, you gotta learn some way, some how, right?"

He took a deep breath, calming himself before he got up and readied himself, Buttercup nodded, "That's good, being overly emotional in battle makes it easy to read you. Now, focus on myself, watch how I move and how I fight…block…it gets easier the longer you fight someone especially since in a life and death struggle, you can hardly hide anything, you are laid bare…"

Marco swung and rolled, even throwing his sword before delivering kicks and punches, the lizard did the same, easily sweeping Marco into the ground.

"Did you feel slower just now?"

"I did…"

"Hm, I didn't think my gecko hypnotize glare would work on you…that's bad, you could easily fall for possessions and be hypnotized like a fool."

Marco rubbed his eyes, "How can I defend against something like that? I need my eyes to fight!"

"We need to train your other senses, perceive information with just more than your eyes but then again being hypnotized doesn't always require eye contact, that means more training for you, Marco."

He groaned flopping on the ground.

"Look at it this way…you won't be caught unawares from any sort of opponents no matter if they are friend or foe: chickenbutt."

Marco groaned at the trigger word and the last images was Buttercup and the ghost cackling with laughter.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

I've done it again! Songs in fanfics! Oh that takes me back, like really back when I first started writing.

All credits due to **Olivia Holt [History].**

Things are heating up, be prepared to see some sparks to fly! Marco is down to train and down to get his groove back, adventures, swords, Nachos! Marco is on the fast track to becoming a top notch squire that even Higgs will wish she could be even just a little bit of. I know I've been kicking Marco in my recent updates...I'm still not done kicking him to be honest. He's got a few more hurdles before he becomes a god damn badass.

Look forward to it.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	6. Chapter 6

.

 **Chapter 6**

Traitor

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

"How long have I been training with you all?"

"A couple weeks…starting to get sore from hitting you across my manicured gardens and grove."

"Yeah right, I distinctly remembered beating with three moves." Marco shot back grinning.

"It was rigged! Honeysuckle's sundress flew up and you punched me in the eye!"

The ghost roared with laughter along with Marco, Buttercup joined in too, the two were pretty roughed up. What used to be an infuriating fight for Marco had turned into a duel that Buttercup had to admit was extremely taxing if not borderline frightening how quickly Marco closed the gap.

"Gotta admit those gauntlets were pretty hard, can't believe you managed to get pieces off that Mantle Tunneling Worm in Blazing Terra Zar 992. That thing regularly eats through planet's crust and burrows into the mantle to bathe in the heat and eat the elements and rocks there. Cute when they are just infant worms."

"Yeah, I'm glad I read up on it, thought of making my armor out of something exotic and unusual, give me the element of surprise."

Buttercup nodded before rubbing the slightly purple spot on his eye, he only ran into the worm once and Marco was more than happy to jump on it's back on his first meeting. Once Buttercup saved Marco, he found out that his hoodie sleeves tangled on some of it carapace, the boy managed to pull a piece off when he hanged on for dear life.

The lizard examined it and found something unusual: while extremely durable, the carapace actually moved in such a way that it vibrate in a frequency peculiarly. Buttercup hammered the piece on a rock and it was broken to pieces not from the blows but from the frequency the piece made, the carapace somehow resonates the object struck and continues to build up until it breaks apart.

While a living thing would definitely feel the damage it could repair itself over time, a non-living would be rend and have no hope of repair. Metal was no different and the carapace smashed it into brittle pieces.

The carapace was capable of molecular sabotage and rupture.

It took some doing from Buttercup, but he found a way through magic to fashion the carapace into usable gauntlets, Marco would be safe so long he didn't pound his fists into mush.

Since his training, Buttercup and the ghost insisted that he hunted for valued pelts and hides, teaching him how to dress it after it was caught and how to properly prepare the meat and respect he should give. To Marco it was grisly work, Buttercup and the ghost knew he would resist, but to their surprise the boy followed their instructions even voicing his protest.

"You youngsters seem to have hunt for sport and lean times, you've grown soft."

"Sorry I wasn't born in the age of flying dragons and charging monster hippo rhinos. But I sorta remember doing this before…I must have been in Hekapoo's dimension…I guess that's why I'm not so squeamish."

Buttercup thoughtfully nodded, "Ah yes, the forger of Dimensional Scissors, she's quite lovely. I had the chance to see her before she grew out her hair, pity that."

Marco filed the image of a short hair Hekapoo in the back of his head.

They took Marco to various places in Mewni, teaching him how to hunt the elusive beasts and preserve the materials should he need to. Marco expertly sew himself some pieces together, starting with cheap worn leather until he was confident to make masterpieces. The ghost taught him some patterns and styles lost to Mewman culture due to trends and inter-dimensional commerce, Marco was ecstatic at the creations he made and quickly jot them down for later use.

While ghost couldn't teach Marco physically, Buttercup handled that and even Honeysuckle when she could spare the time, Marco blushed profusely as she didn't seem to understand personal space and it didn't help she was quite beautiful.

Marco's fighting skills from martial arts to swordsmanship was a total overhaul, Buttercup and the ghost work in tandem to push Marco into developing a style of fighting he could keep up for hours against a single foe to an army if he had too. It was back breaking work and it pushed Marco to the extremes, but never before did he felt so alive.

Marco learned to use a variety of weapons in conjunctions with others, while he moved or on a mount, Buttercup made him tame a horse, hooves almost making contact to his face and ribcage so he could learn to fight on horseback, from sword, lance, axe and bow.

The three hooligans even tried espionage for fun, sneaking into kingdoms during the day and at night. Buttercup claimed it was for stealth training but when Marco realized he was entering a bath house for the ladies, the two ran for it leaving Marco cursing the two as they fled the scene, the fuzz on their literal asses.

Ghost didn't care, what were they gonna do to him?

Buttercup mentioned salt, a cross, a wooden stake, garlic, silver chains, a purple glyph on the ground and the lizard was promptly slapped.

However, for all the fun he had he couldn't help feel as if he was missing something. The next time he woke up in his room he was promptly reminded by a Star Butterfly glaring at him as he woke up.

"Hi, Marco."

"Morning, Star…wait, Star? Star! Wow, are you all done with your diplomatic field trips?" Marco asked excited, he almost didn't recognize her since he absences but he kept that to himself.

"Yes, Marco, I'm done. And they were not field trips, they were diplomatic visits! I tried to call you during the road trips but you never pick up! And when I get back home, you're never here! Where have you been? You don't even eat breakfast or any of the meals and you hardly helped Lavabo! He thought you died in some ditch!"

Marco opened his mouth to reply but his answer faltered, he glanced to his feet unable to come up with an excuse, Star looked at him with concern, "Marco have you been taking this squire position seriously? Are you bored with it?"

"What? No, Star! The reason I've been away was because…I found a teacher! Yeah, he's a mewman that lived a little ways off from here, he used to be a knight so I've been learning from him, he was a squire before so he was giving me lessons."

"Oh, well, that's good someone was willing to teach you. So, what's the knight's name?"

Marco sweated a bit, the ghost hadn't reveal his name yet, so he decided at the next best thing, "Sir…Buttercup."

Star blinked and narrowed her eyes, "Sir Buttercup? Marco."

"I swear Star, that's his name, why would he need to lie?"

Star slowly nodded at the explanation, she gave him a glance, "Are you sure you weren't fooling around with Hekapoo?"

He deflated at the name, "Ask her if we hanged out, we haven't since the whole…portal thing."

"So…now that you aren't so busy, why don't we go—" "Can't Eclipsa's trial is actually coming up soon, we are really busy right now getting a neutral jury prepared, judge and a good lawyer for her."

"Oh, so what should I do?"

Star paused, she didn't make eye contact, "Well…I don't know, you don't know how the Mewman judicial system works here, do you?"

"A little, Buttercup taught me." Marco started, Star narrowed her eyes.

" _Sir_ Buttercup, Marco, that's a title and a high one at that."

Marco was a little perplexed as he got off his bed, "When did you get some factual?"

"Oh when mom drones on and on about it, kinda hard to get it out." Star laughed as the two walked out of the room.

"Gonna eat dinner in your jam jams?"

"…I'll see you in the dining hall."

* * *

The court consisted of a number of royalties including Pony Head's, Pigeon, Lucitor and Johansen.

They were busy talking to each other and whatnot, it was a few days before the trial and the castle was at their utmost royal standard in appearance, performance and fare, Marco marveled at the succulent meals prepared. The Royal High Commission was even there, Marco made sure not to make any direct contact with them, feeling as if they hadn't forgotten the wild party they had.

Hekapoo made brief eye contact with him, however this time Marco didn't blink first forcing the blacksmith to turn away, he felt a little pleased with himself but it didn't show on his face and he quietly left. The hustle bustle of the place while enjoyable and a great change in the atmosphere came, Marco couldn't help but feel it be soured when he spotted Tom and Star making chit chat, Marco quietly moved away from the love birds but someone definitely noticed.

"Earth turd where are you going?"

"I actually have to meet my teacher, I wanted to ask him something." He readied his scissors so he wasn't followed, Pony Head heckled him for an answer.

"Reaaally, not feeling _green_?"

"I'm not in a bus nor am I motion sick right now."

The pony laughed, "Wow dodging mah questions, you got it bad, boi."

Marco rolled his eyes, "Call me if the trial starts, I want to see the Mewman court in action."

"What am I your secretary?"

"You'd make a good one! Not." Marco hopped through the portal before Pony Head could give him a tongue lashing.

* * *

Marco breathed in the fresh crisp air of the grove sunlight dancing across his face, he smiled seeing Buttercup looking at him in surprise, "Ah Marco, later than usual, I'm guessing the castle had something exciting?"

He fell a little when Marco told him that Eclipsa's trial would start soon, Buttercup went to fetch a book while Marco spoke to the ghost, who risen up from his grave.

"Yeah, I told the princess that 'Sir Buttercup' was teaching me, she didn't really buy it, she thinks I've been goofing of these past few weeks, like these boys would lie! Grrr! Mhrrmmm!"

Marco threw his hoodie off along with his shirt and flexed in the open, he definitely wasn't scrawny anymore and the gut he used to have was trimmed a whole lot. The ghost laughed at the weird poses he did, "Lad, you won't scare a bear but the lasses will be running over hill and dale!"

"You're just jealous."

The ghost roared with laughter, "Lad, you definitely know how to warm these bones of mine with your bloated self confidence. You're a lot better now than we first met you, lots of progress from what we saw."

Marco beamed at the words, it felt good to know that someone on Mewni at least appreciated his efforts.

Buttercup came back with a book on hand, flipping through it, "Sorry, when you mentioned Eclipsa I knew I wrote something important down."

"If it's about her daughter, I know her, I met her."

Buttercup nodded, though he didn't seem to hear, "Yes, yes, but Marco Eclipsa is a rather powerful Butterfly, she's used arcane magic a great number of times and not once had it crippled her, it marks her but nothing more."

Marco raised an eyebrow, "What are you getting at? She's been in a crystal for 300 hundred years…or more, she's gotta be weaken right? Oh! Forget that, tell me her history! Her mewman king, husbando! Her monster husbando!"

Buttercup flipped through the pages before thrusting the book to his face, "I knew something was up…look Marco, her arcane magic is not to be trifled with."

Marco looked at the book pages and he felt his gut tighten: words were marred as if the ink was wet and someone ran their finger across it. The ghost gave a low whistle.

"That's a nifty trick."

"I'm guessing whoever remembers things or history about Eclipsa, her magic probably afflicted them too…written text, oral stories, memories of individuals, her magic has marred them so it would be incomplete or faulty."

"That's pretty dangerous."

Marco felt a hole in his gut, _so that's why Moon's thoughts of her are sorta spotty and just calls her 'evil'...I mean I didn't see her name that much in the books I read in the library...feels like it would be hard to pin her for something no one seemingly remembers...Globgar is definitely out of the picture with his condition._

"Yes, it seems as if only certain knowledge of her has been retained…or she deems worthwhile and without consequence. Not sure what's she's planning but I don't think it is good…I wonder who isn't afflicted with this brand of magic."

"Wait you wrote it, the book, can you remember anything?"

"…no, I'm drawing a blank. Guess she went after historians and I definitely apply as one."

"How about Mina Loveberry? She remembers Eclipsa!"

"That mewman? Hm, she might have been shielded due to her insanity…I mean, her head must be jumbled no point making it even more as a mess. Let's discuss this later, you said she's on trial…I sense something bad is going to happen, Marco it is time."

"For…?"

Buttercup walked passed him and went to the weathered tombstone, "I don't want to be rude or accelerating this ghost but I think it is time."

"I think so too, I would have liked it if Marco had a bit more time under my tutelage, but as he is right now and how he is shaping up to be…he'll be fine.

"Marco, what happens next…Buttercup get him his books for his future study, I want to speak to him alone."

Buttercup nodded and left, the ghost looked at Marco and smiled, "I didn't get to know you long, Marco Diaz but you have showed promise, mettle and hope that I thought was lost to the world. Torn from your home, put on a strange land with stranger customs and people, you have endured and grown despite that, much like myself and the friends I have said goodbye…you have made me proud Marco, you have made Buttercup proud as well that a warrior of steadfast principle and quality still existed in this land of our standards and that of the old mewman knights. It has been a delight teaching you our customs and beliefs, so they may live on with you and when the time comes impart them on a new generation so it may endure throughout the ages.

"You came here, Marco as a squire, a royal squire to a princess of the Butterfly Kingdom, however you have proven to me that you are as gallant as any of my fellow knights of old, kinder beyond your years especially for a strange land and customs place upon you and a thirst for knowledge and desire to prove one's self.

"I shall impart my name upon you now, remember my name as did Buttercup, the very foe whom I spared and sought to keep my memory, history and legacy alive. Now kneel lad…"

Marco did as he said, the ghost spoke:

"I, **Oblivion Pendragon** , only child of **Oblivion** and **Smile Pendragon** , and the powers vested to me by my rank as knight of the Brotherhood, and those all present, living and dead, my dear brothers and sister in arms hereby dub thee…

"Marco Ublado Diaz." Marco spoke automatically.

"Knighthood, for his many nobles feats and embracing the Brotherhood's customs and traditions, you shall carry the title with honor and excellence within this realm and any realm should you visit."

Marco felt as if something seeped from the ground, he felt the cold tap of steel on his shoulder then to the next, Oblivion smiled, "Now rise…Sir Marco Diaz of the Brotherhood."

"You do not have a sword on your hip brother…I suppose my own shall do, I can no longer wield it, after this ceremony, I barely have the strength to keep it aloft…"

Marco quickly stood up and he blinked as the knight smiled tiredly and held out his sword to him, caked in earth and rusting,

"I know it's not a proper knight's blade but this sword had a great destiny and it shall have one again in your hands. Please, use it accordingly…and try not to be too reckless with it."

Marco touched the sword and he felt it cold and hard, he frowned and held it up to the sunlight before bringing it down, clumps of dirt and rust fell from it's edge, the ghost looked at the sword appreciatively,

"I have so many fond memories from that blade, saved me so many times…it's rather unique, it chooses it master and anyone unworthy who dares to wield it would face dire consequences."

Marco nodded, half believing it would hurt the bearer, and looked over the sword, his initial thoughts of it was that it was plain but the grime and age hid a rather intricate looking sword.

"That sword has a name long before I came to possess it…in fact it is legendary."

"Legendary?"

Buttercup came back topside and stood next to Oblivion, he looked at the sword with nostalgia, "Yes, at first I couldn't believe that it existed but upon further research it can't be mistaken, that's a legendary blade."

"Marco I bequeath to you my sword as it's former master: the Traitor's Sword."

The boy froze.

Buttercup smiled, "Don't take the name so seriously, that's what enemies of the sword call it: because it can truly slay immortals indefinitely."

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

Whew, another update out at the speed of light, I don't know if I can keep up anymore.

Now, Marco has the rank and the blade, let's see what he does with it in the exciting conclusion of this fanfic of mine.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	7. Chapter 7

.

 **Chapter 7**

Dancing with the Enemy

 **XxXxXxXxX**

Marco looked at the sword skeptically, he hammered more of the dirt off it, Buttercup and Oblivion looked at it with a sort of reverence, "I have to say…I just don't believe you."

Buttercup chuckled and Oblivion nodded, "I would too if I didn't cut off a lizard's arm and watch them attempt to grow it back…then it didn't. The lizards have immortality…er, something akin to immortality in their veins and that blade proves that it can make it go away."

When Marco was still not convinced, Buttercup held out his hand, "Oblivion speaks the truth, I have scars on myself to prove it but why not cut off a finger? Cousin Toffee would enjoy the irony."

That definitely got Marco to pull the sword away and Buttercup held his hand out, "Well if not a finger, how about my hand?"

"NO! That's too much!"

Buttercup laughed before biting his finger and a drop of blood fell on the naked blade, without warning the drop instantly began to sizzle before leaving the edge free from residue.

"I've studied that sword for years Marco, I've tried to find the alloys that make it and I have found some from foreign lands and other dimensions, that sword is ever sharp and pristine."

"Ugh?" Marco swept his hand down the blade, Buttercup laughed, "Well, it's been in the dirt, that rust isn't even on the sword, shake it lose or wash it down by the creek."

"So it can kill immortals and never breaks…what else can it do?"

Buttercup's eyes twinkled, "The sword also acts as a conduit to the wielder, whatever the wielder needs it to do, it will make it so. I've seen Oblivion make it burst with fire or run ice down the edge before. Warriors and knights wanted it but failed to make it their own sword, the blade is very loyal to the chosen wielder and it will be to you."

Marco held the blade to the light, "Make it catch fire…make ice with it…this is something like Star's wand, whatever she wants she can make it."

"Yes, in a way, but her royal wand obeys all masters, all wielders, your sword does not. And the power the sword has is proportional to your own, that's why we trained you like Oblivion had in his upbringing. His athleticism was unnatural to even the warriors of his time, wielding that blade made him a force of nature, he couldn't be beat."

"So how did you fell Oblivion? You said you died during a battle."

"Well, Marco I was 30 at the time when I had just spared Buttercup's life, one of his comrades stabbed me with a poison dagger in the back. In fury, Buttercup slew the monster on the spot and led me away to this grove."

"Oblivion was a tough bastard, even though the poison was potent it took agonizing weeks to finally kill him. I tried to cure him but I was just not scholarly enough or too incompetent. Being illiterate didn't help much either. He asked me to remember him, he wasn't well liked by the high society nor the historians of the time, the sword wounded every noble and royalties pride when they failed to wield it and sought to erase him from history by making it as if he never existed as well as the fabled blade. I took his promise to heart and taught myself, writing books 10 years later about Oblivion's life and deeds. My family disowned me by then, not only because I decided to leave the scheming and revenge business but also to hide the Traitor Sword. In a way, that sword is cursed too…making 'traitors' out of anyone connected to it."

Marco look at the sword with apprehension, Buttercup and Oblivion touched his shoulder, "Not too many mewman or monsters remember that sword, you can forge it a new name, a new destiny, don't let it's warped past stop it from being a symbol of good in the world."

He gulped and nodded, he raised the sword high, "Alright…sword! Make lightning!"

Marco shut his eyes, Buttercup and the ghost folded their arms, "Really. In my grove. You want to light this place on fire?"

"You sure you're not a closet arsonist?"

Marco brought the sword down lamely, "I really thought—OW!"

Marco leapt in fright as the sword suddenly taser him, shooting a bolt at the ground making it smolder.

"Urgh! That hurt!"

Marco cradled his hand before ghost slapped him on the back of the head, "Are you daft! Don't drop your sword like that!"

"Even if it turned into a fire breathing hydra, don't ever drop your weapon in battle! So unbecoming."

He rubbed his head before picking up the sword, it shocked him and let it go, "Owww! This thing is…"

The ghost took it and held it out to him, "Marco, brother, this sword is an extension of yourself, treat it as if you are treating your own arm. As for the powers it can manifest…anything is possible lad, it make whatever the wielder needs because immortals of old came in all manner of shapes, forms and sizes. Need to cleave metal? Firebrand. Need to hit distant foes? It can make razor winds and shockwaves. Kill ghosts? SilverEdge. However, these manifestations takes toll out of the wielder, overly using it will leave you unconscious or worse, a dry husk of a person. Now, let's find out how much you can abuse it, lad."

"So…anything I can think of?" Marco asked as he held the sword with more purpose, a grin on his face, Buttercup and the ghost stood back at his eager face.

"Yes. Show us what you can do, lad."

Marco smiled and face the opposite of the grove, glancing back to the castle to make sure his antics wasn't seen.

"Alright…FIREBRAND!"

And the sword blazed into life, peeling the years of dirt and grime, it shimmered in the sunlight, it brimmed with renewed purpose in the hands of it's chosen master.

.

Marco got back to the castle just before the sun had finally set, Buttercup gave him the scabbard to the sword, the original had long worn away and he made another in preparation for the next wielder. It felt good, finally being a bona fide knight even though it wasn't technically official, but he would get there in the end anyways so it didn't bother him too much.

He stopped at the sight of the castle, many of the nobles and guests were outside or entering, he glanced to himself and dusted his hoodie: it didn't do much, he was filthy, he looked as if he was caked in mud, parts of his hoodie and pants were scorched with fire, he face had smudges of ash and dust.

He had a lot of fun testing out the sword until he promptly dropped. He awoke to Honeysuckle dabbing his head with a moist rag, Buttercup and the ghost shaking their heads with smiles on their face as if they were watching their nephew get into a spot of trouble.

Marco sighed at the day he spent, wishing it would just last a wee bit longer but he did have duties at the castle. He made a detour from the front, no way he was going up there all mucky, a quick wash in Lavabo's station would at least get him tidy as he opened the backdoor.

The squire gasped seeing so much laundry piled to the ceiling the Knight of the Wash literally stomping on a tub filled with clothes, he glanced to Marco and leapt at him.

"And where do you think you're going, Marco Diaz?"

"Uhm…"

"Not through here, that's what! You're filthy!"

"Yeah, about that—!"

Marco yelled as Lavabo threw him into a tub filled with soap water, sputtering the squire caught sight of the knight turning a valve and gestured for him to pinch his nose. Marco followed and not a second too soon when a waterfall fell on him before being scrubbed by a soft brush courtesy of Lavabo.

"Before you can leave this room, you'll help me clean for all the times you skipped!"

"I can explain!" before Marco went under again.

Lavabo tossed him out of the tub before informing him to drop his clothes, dry himself then grab a temporary change of clothes and help him.

Marco wanted to argue but he knew he was in the wrong and did so anyways, he made sure the sword was secured to his hip as he worked with the knight, Lavabo didn't seem too upset he left but worry what became of him.

"Sir Buttercup was training me."

"I have never heard of that knight before."

"Oh, he's retired, lives like a hermit a little ways off, I learned a lot from him."

"Like swordsmanship? That is a sword, yes?"

Marco nodded and patted it, "Yes, he gave it to me since he didn't have much use for it."

Lavabo nodded, "A knight gives a squire a sword as a gift and not a tool for practice, in Mewni anyways, meant he was eligible to be a knight. You must have impressed him."

"I would hope so…I feel like I haven't quite reached the level he wants…Higgs said that being a squire was a lot of work but I feel like I just goof off, I don't know much about what a squire must do for their knight."

"Well, you're a royal squire, also a squire of the wash, you've been with the princess on adventures no? You've worked here with diligence, no? I say you're a good squire, Marco. Different requirements for different squires as well as knights, not one of us the same."

"…thanks Lavabo."

The two worked for another hour before he dismissed him, "You're young and a handsome squire, why not get dressed for the court? It would give me something to brag about if my squire happen to have many maids and princesses vying for his attention!"

Marco blushed at the words, Lavabo laughed, "Go on, Marco, have some fun, eat plenty, be merry, dance into the night."

"How about you?"

Lavabo smirked, "I had plenty of _hot dates_." He jutted his thumb to a pile of sheets, Marco made sure to run out of the wash as quick as he could.

.

Back in his room Marco pulled out his tuxedo get up, he dusted it here and there before throwing on the top and quickly feeling the pull on the sleeves, shoulders and torso. He frowned and took it off, he sighed seeing he had growth spurt without realizing it, the shirt was small and no doubt the pants was too.

He pushed it back into the closet before he saw another tuxedo lined up, he pulled it out and saw a note on it:

 ** _To Marco Diaz,_**

 ** _Courtesy of the Wash_**

Marco smiled, it was much more roomy than his former tux, the sleeves and shirt tail was long but it didn't stop him from looking good. He took his black dress shoes shined it, threw on the black trousers, black shirt, a maroon vest and a black blazer with a maroon lining and his black tie.

He looked at the mirror and he realized that his hair had grown, he grabbed a handful of styling gel and made it looked at least civilized.

Marco glanced at his sword, he looked over the scabbard, it was elegant enough and he tied it to his hip, "I hope I can dance with you on, otherwise you're gonna be stuck up here."

Marco glanced out his room before walking down the hall, feeling a tad nervous as the castle reverberate with music. Marco walked down the familiar hallways until he reach the main hall, he was surprise to see so many nobles and royalty in one place, he looked from the balcony trying to find Star or anyone he knew. It felt strange being in such a regal affair, so used to casual dancing gigs and crazy mosh pits with Star and Pony Head.

"Well, look who decided to show up…" came a drawl, Marco turned to face a rather elegantly dressed Higgs, flanked by Baby Man and Old Guy.

Marco rolled his eyes before looking back to the main hall, "I show up when I do, Higgs."

"Oh don't think you're someone special here, _Marco_. Your princess isn't here to save you from us."

"Don't need her to, because a good squire won't get in a tussle in front of all these important nobles and guests who came for important business."

Higgs blinked, "What business?"

Marco pieced together Higg's reaction before he shrugged, "Probably to negotiate, make alliances, whatever royalties do…"

He walked down the stairs in a relaxed pace, not to give the air that he nearly fudged up, _so…Eclipsa's trial isn't common knowledge…I guess whatever this function is will be the cover to have them all here…_

Marco reached the ground floor and walked towards the banquet, he couldn't help but realize many of guests glance at him, whispering or making prolong eye contact. Marco shrugged, greeting whoever passed him by, taking a plate and stacking it with biscuits, small cured meats, cheese and some light greens. He ate it without much energy, chewing it and watched high society interact with each other in public.

Lots of talking.

Lots of dancing.

Mingling and laughing.

Talking in whispers.

Giving sealed scrolls and envelopes.

Inviting each other to their kingdoms and villas.

Drinking wine and champagne.

Marco merely chewed his food, before pausing as he saw Lavabo, in a similar tuxedo as him chat up a lady, he saw Marco across the room and gave him a nod and smile. The squire kept himself from dropping his jaw as the two later walked away, his arm around her waist and her hand gripping his arse.

"Dayum…I need Lavabo to teach me…" he muttered to himself.

"Hey, Marco~" he tensed slightly, an arm wrapped around his own, he gave a sideways glance and saw it was Higgs, she smiled at him, pressing up against him.

"Do you want to dance?"

Marco narrowed his eyes, "No."

If Higgs was disappointed it didn't show, but she definitely voiced it, "Why~ can't dance, NERD?"

Marco clenched his jaw, before setting his finished plate down and taking her hand and gave her a twirl, her face went scarlet and she tugged her hem down, "Looks like I'm dancing with a squire with two left feet. C'mon, I don't mind getting my nice shoes scuffed."

Marco led her to the dance floor, he realized the music was for a mewman style waltz and he got into position, Higgs was tentative to touch him but he sighed and placed her hands down.

"I'm not going to bite, hurry up Higgs."

"Quit being so bossy!"

The two were late to the dance, but they crept up and synched with the rest, Higgs legs were shorter than Marco so he had to compensate, taking his time so Higgs could get her feet right, even if they bounced in and out of synch with the rest of the dancers.

"Why did you ask me to dance."

"I want to know why there's a formal function."

"Royalty does this thing all the time, it's a chance to flex their superiority and wealth."

Higgs grumbled at the explanation, it was so obvious but she knew something else was up.

"Do you know anything about it?"

"Ask Sir Stabby."

"I'm asking you."

"Ask Sir Stabby."

She glared as the dance finished, he bowed to her and she merely stood there, before doing a very quick curtesy and stormed off. Marco shook his head and moved back to the corner he was standing in, only to be stopped by a few pretty royals, they congratulated him and even asked to dance with him next.

Marco felt himself nod at the request before they left giggling, glance back at him as he ladle himself some punch, drinking deeply.

He felt a slap on his back, luckily he caught himself before he splash his front, "Hey, Marco, I see you got some good pair of dancing legs. Not bad, dude."

Marco saw Tom wearing his usual formal get up, only this time it was tuck and pressed. He gave a slight shrug, "I dunno, my partner didn't like dancing with me. Maybe I wasn't better looking."

He laughed at the last part, before sipping his punch, Tom looked at him before at his hip, "Cool sword, who did you loot that from?"

"Oh, that, a knight gave it to me after I completed a couple lessons from him."

"Mhmmm, that nice, dude. Now if you excuse me, I've got a hot date!" Tom darted away, Marco didn't bother turning as he filled his glass again and went out to the balcony, seeing the evening canvas speckled with stars.

He sipped his punch and glance out to the dark horizon, his hand fell on his sword, the music and dancing were wonderful background noise as he thought deeply about his stay on Mewni. Since his training with Buttercup and the ghost, he had a fulfillment like never before, it did make him feel guilty that he wasn't taking his squire position as seriously as before.

Most of Star's problems were being solved, from her sleep portals, to the fall out of Monster Bash, things for him to be around for dwindled. Then there was her renewed relationship with Tom, it was good she was dating someone going through the same things as she was, their upbringing similar. He had the same with...

He sighed at the thought.

Kelly…he liked Kelly well enough, talking to her frequently whenever he could, it was nice to speak to each other about their problems and just have someone around to listen to it. He didn't want to ruin their newfound friendship with them dating, especially since the two of them just recently been freed from a relationship. They comforted each other, supported each other and hopefully one day, find someone whom they felt strongly about.

And he didn't want to get into a relationship with the Blood Moon Curse over his head, it would just end in a break up and he didn't have the heart for it.

Marco sighed and he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Pony Head all prim and proper, he turned back, "Hey, Pony Head."

"What are ya doin' out here? There's a bumpin' party inside!"

"Eh, I like the breeze."

"Hung up over Star, Earth Turd?"

Marco wince at the blunt question, he sloshed his punch a bit, "Dunno, I came here thinking things could be the same, like I never left, but lo and behold, it changed the moment I left."

"…"

"Mhmmm, I guess nothing really stays the same."

Marco pushed himself off the balcony and headed back inside, putting his glass down, a pretty maiden walking up to him, hair done into an impressive bun and an elegant dress to match.

"May, I have a dance, m'lord?"

"Yes, you may. I'm a squire by the way."

The maiden blushed as he swept her to the dance floor, she held his hands as they moved the music, "Having second thoughts, m'lady?"

"Before…but you are quite good." she grinned as he took her through the floor, by the time they finished, a gaggle of girls were waiting for him, the maid was immediately barraged with questions while Marco took another one and swept back to the dance floor.

He remembered Lavabo's words, as the girl clung to him, clearly she was a little shy at their closeness, _I might as well have some fun!_

The following hours were a blur to Marco, he took at least every eager and blushing maidens to the floor to dance, shedding his blazer when it got sweltering. He definitely caught a lot of royals and guests attention as he frequently found himself on the dance floor with a new dance partner. When he found his legs were pudding he sat down and had a few guests listen to some of his adventures with Star, telling tales across dimensions to Earth, his home. He garnered quite a crowd, eager for his exploits and his deeds across the many dimensions, questioning about his life on Earth.

He received many invitations to visit various kingdoms, from small to large, Marco stuffed them into his laid blazer, "Sorry, sorry, I'm quite famished, actually."

Marco heard them groaned and even boos as he casually laughed it off, he got himself a plate again and put more hearty portions of fare. The nobles followed suit and again they were busy telling stories, exchanging tales and such, Marco this time just ate as the crowd noisily talk.

Eventually, he excused himself from the nobles, the body heat was causing him to sweat through everything and he fanned himself, going to the balcony again to get some refreshing evening breeze. Pony Head and Star were there, waiting for him, Marco froze at the sight of them.

"Having fun, Marco?" Star asked, she wore a rather regal white dress, her hair done in the usual formal bun, Pony Head looking at him.

"A little bit, just mingling with high society."

"Mhmmm, sure."

"Yeah…"

Marco sighed and looked at the two, "Alright, something is on your mind, the both of you: what is it?"

"I don't know Marco, have you seen yourself tonight?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Marco replied, unsure what was going on.

Pony Head rolled her eyes, "Marco…everyone inside thinks you're some philander."

Marco gave them a look of disbelief.

"Ugh, a cad. A louse. A player. A fuckboi."

"Okay, okay. The first one was enough. And I just danced with some girls and talked to a bunch of people, what's the problem with that?"

"Marco, Mewni isn't Earth, there are some society norms that are just different!" Star stated hotly, Marco gave her a look.

"When have you cared? You never been this straight lace on Earth. Heck, sometimes you were buck wild."

Star open her mouth to retort, then closed it and sighed, "Fine, Marco, I guess you have a point. But can you please tone it down?"

"Don't worry, I'm actually pretty pooped from earlier. I might just turn in. Oh, by the way, nice dress."

"I know right? I really like it."

Marco smiled as she twirled around, he glanced towards his back feeling eyes on him, it was Higgs staring at him. Then he saw Tom fast approaching, holding to chalices, he took a step back so he could have some space with Star and Pony Head.

"Wow, the whole gang is here!" He handed the chalice to Star.

"Well, Kelly and Janna aren't here."

Despite that, the four of them made small talk. Marco looked towards the garden then to Eclipsa's tower thinking about her magic and the charm she made for him, _she's going on trial soon…I don't if anyone can find any credible evidence on her…_

"Marco? You okay?"

He blinked before sheepishly shrugging, "I must be getting tired, I was training this morning and dancing this whole evening. I think I'll just hit the hay."

"You sure? The final dance is about to start, why don't we share this dance, Star?" Tom wiggled his eyebrows at her, she happily accepted and the two ran for the dance floor. Pony Head drifted to him,

"You okay, Earth Turd?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired actually."

"Yah know, Star is really worried about you."

"Well, I'm worried her too. She's really laden with 'princess work'. You know, how come you aren't bogged down by your own royal duties?"

"Uh, eazy, I jus don't do them."

"Wow. I wish I could be that carefree."

Marco and Pony Head walked back in to see Star and Tom scorching the carpet with fire and butterflies. Marco made no comment as he made his way up the stairs and down the hall to his room, only to pause when he saw his door slightly ajar.

Marco pulled his sword free and kicked the door open, he glanced around quickly, ready to send the intruder flying into the wall with a wave of fire from his sword. He paused, seeing nothing out of place, Marco frowned before began to undress, the sounds of the royal function dwindling away.

He put his clothes into the hamper for tomorrow, before he leapt back and got ready to kick the silent intruder, his thoughts racing, "I know you're in here...HEKAPOO!"

The portal sprang open and jumped out the redhead blacksmith, she frowned as Marco only had his trousers on.

"Maybe if you were 30 you could run around without your shirt, put something on skinny ribs."

Marco glared at her before he took a spare hoodie and sat on his bed, "Alright, what do you want?"

She gave him a funny look, before scoffing, "What's with the attitude?"

"Dunno, maybe someone broke into my room and thought they could hide."

"How did you even know?"

"Door was ajar."

"I meant—" "Lucky guess."

She smirked, "I was your first guess?"

"Most of the occupants are downstairs…only ones missing was the Magical High Commission, who wasn't present at all in the function along with River and Queen Moon. I'm guessing you were guarding Eclipsa."

Hekapoo folded her arms, "You came to that conclusion in that short amount of time?"

"I thought of it the moment I kicked the door down. It was either a fist hit me, turning into crystal or you disappearing."

"Yeah, well, I'm just investigating if Eclipsa can leave her room."

"Okay then. Close the lights when you're done."

Marco kicked his shoes off and socks, he glanced at his trousers before grabbing some pajamas and changing into it, not caring if Hekapoo was there, however she flung her hands up to cover her eyes. He shook his head before tucking himself in, Hekapoo looked at him curiously, "You've changed Muscles."

"Good night, H-Poo."

"I said—never mind."

She didn't stay long and was gone soon enough, shutting the lights and leaving a still awake Marco in the darkness.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

This was suppose to be part of the final chapter of this short fanfic, however, I couldn't piece the last part of the fanfic properly, having way too many conflicting ideas and the reason just didn't feel enough. Like it wouldn't drive the point home and seem super forced, I want it to be a clear and definite reasons for the conclusion.

Anyways, the final chapter should be coming along soon, hope it leaves a meaningful impact.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSON**


	8. Finale

.

 **Chapter 8**

Finale

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

Marco awoke to Star shaking him awake, he groggily looked at her, "W-what? What happened?"

"Marco, get up, it's time for the trial!"

"…it's starting right this moment?"

"Urgh, you know what I mean Marco!"

Marco laughed for a moment before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom, "I'm gonna take a shower, I'll see you in breakfast."

Whether or not Star heard, he didn't know as he stripped down and got ready to clean himself, tensing at the blast of cold water hitting his body and soap suds that followed.

Getting down to breakfast, Marco quickly felt the air in the room tense as Queen Moon ate in a clipped pace, River actually taking his time and Star munching on her cereal.

"Good morning, Queen Moon, River."

"Mhmmm, yes…"  
"Ah, Marco, look time no see! I saw you shredding the dance floor last night, sweet moves."

Marco sheepishly laugh and helped himself to some of the breakfast fare, Moon looked over to him, "Marco, you've been gone these past few days…weeks actually now that I think about it…"

"Oh, mom, he was training with Sir Buttercup."

"Sir Buttercup?"

"Yeah, a knight that lives a little ways off from here, Queen Moon."

She glanced to his hip, seeing the scabbard and sword, "Hm, I never heard of him before…did he give you that sword?"

Marco nodded.

"What about Sir Lavabo?"

"I still help him down at the Wash, er, maybe not as frequently as before?" Marco said the last part more quietly, Moon couldn't help but frown at the explanation.

"Well, your squire position is inherently yours…ah, if you excuse me, I have to get ready for the trial."

Moon left followed by Star, Marco glanced at the table before looking at River, "I didn't see any of you last night, what happened?"

"Hmm? Oh, Moon pie was briefing some nobles and guests, the whole trial needed every kingdom's ear and voice so she had to regulate them."

"Where's the trial taking place though?"

River chewed his food for a moment before pointing to a tower, "That one, the rest of the court actually ate earlier and just waiting for Moon darling to start it."

Marco felt a sense of uneasy wash over him, "It's not a public trial huh?" "No my boy, it's not."

"…do you believe Eclipsa is evil?"

River sighed, "I've been hearing that all day yesterday, m'boy…Marco you already know that I leave the running of the castle and the kingdom's affair to Moon pie, I'm here to lessen any burdens I can, whenever I can."

"My question though."

"I can't say for sure, Marco. To abandon your kingdom, your home and birthright is…well, wrong and selfish. Does that make you evil? Maybe. Marrying a monster though is very wrong, heinous even, it is an affront to nature."

Marco frowned at the words, "What happens if…?"

River frowned, "What? Marrying a monster…? She could…no, it wouldn't work anyways. And if it did…terrible consequences I wound imagine."

Marco felt his unease increase tenfold and he left the dining hall too, he wanted to go to Buttercup and Oblivion to ask for advice but the moment he reached his room he knew he wouldn't see his mentors today.

A lone book was on his desk with a slip of paper hiding among the pages, Marco was tentative to take it, feeling his dread mount but he did so anyways:

 **Marco  
Be careful**

Marco looked at some odd lines on the bottom, he understood what it meant: Buttercup was telling to have his things ready to be taken with him should something catastrophic happen. He took the books the lizard gave him and bound them together, he made a portal and pushed it through, landing itself in his room on Earth inside of a closet. He took anything else he thought was important: clothes, tools, etc. Marco took a small bag, he rattled it and felt the heavy gold coins, loot and profit he got from trading some of his pelts. He even had a spare $650 inside in case of an emergency.

He pulled out a sheet of paper and quickly jot a note, before rolling it and tying a string with a rock attached before throwing it into another portal.

Marco could feel his gut in a tight ball, but he knew he had to face what was coming head on, he wasn't gonna shy away from what life decided to throw at him. He threw on his nicest hoodie, his normal jeans and shoes, put his sword on his hip, his scissors in a holster and his gauntlets.

Marco knew that it would draw attention so he asked Buttercup for a modification: he could move the pieces and joints in a way to make it look as if it was just a glove with the carapace posing as a strange bracelet of sorts. He knew that courtroom security was always strict, his sword and scissors would raise suspicions but it wasn't exactly out of place.

He walked towards the tower, it stood foreboding even for him, a simple bystander, and he was greet with some lurking knights and a grim security detail.

"Name, rank, affiliation and business." Was the curt question. Marco looked at them, the two knights looked mean and their broad axe and sword definitely completed the picture.

"Marco Diaz, royal squire, Butterfly family?" They didn't respond, "Audience to the trial."

The two looked him over, their eyes peering through their helms before they pointed at another knight further down, "Sword, Dimensional Scissors there. What's that glove?"

Marco feigned surprise and eagerly explained he made it out of,  
The guard waved his hand, "Don't care, move along."

Marco walked past them and held out his effects, the knight ran a glowing bar before putting it through a box, the knight that managed it frowned before taking the sword and looking at it, pulling it from the scabbard.

He took a silent intake of breath, hoping the sword didn't feel annoyed and shocked the knight.

"Strange sword…where did you find this blade?"

Marco quickly took the sword, "It was a gift from a mentor."

The guard merely shrugged and handed him his scissors and he was led through a double door, the door was a foot thick and made out of oak with steel bands. Marco walked through the lobby, seeing a line and he quickly queue up, it took roughly 30 minutes before he was issued a temporary badge that read:

Marco Diaz  
Butterfly Kingdom Royal Squire  
Trial Audience

He took a string and tied the badge, making it a necklace as he went through the large tower first floor consisting of a lobby, restrooms, waiting rooms, a snack parlor, quarters area and the actual courtroom. Marco stopped to study the floor layout tacked to a wall and saw a jailor on the second floor, most likely holding Eclipsa with the Magical High Commission on guard.

He thought back to her promise, he pulled his collar and looked, faintly a roman numeral three was there, _even if she is executed…or crystalized…I still get to be free of Monster Arm…_

He felt a bit guilty at the thought, but he shook his head, remembering that Eclipsa was using her magic for something and he didn't know if it was for good intentions or not.

Marco felt the floor rumble, he spun to see many grim looking guests, knights and royalty making for a door, he quickly followed letting the flood of people carry him to the courtroom. He kept his awe in check, it looked very much like the law dramas he saw back on Earth, he pushed himself forward and sat closet to the front of the pews, making sure he would see the Mewni justice system clearly.

Marco saw Star sitting next to an empty chair and a tense Mewman attorney, on the other side was Queen Moon, glaring at Star with River and an Mewman attorney as well. He glanced at the empty jury bench before looking at the audience gathered, he saw Tom, Pony Head, some Johansen members, royalties from last night, some of them winking at Marco and the like. Marco even saw Buff Frog, sporting at Mewman badge, he waved to him and he waved back, no tadpoles to be seen.

Marco turned back to the courtroom as quiet as a herald walked forward, "Thank you all for gathering here today, I ask you all to turn off all cellular devices, there will be no need for recording either as the court has their own scribes and cameras. All attending audience members, be it royalty or not, is advise that only indoor talking volume is allowed during the court sessions, failure to follow will result you being flung headfirst out of the room.

"Now please all rise, the trial of Eclipsa Butterfly, the Queen of Darkness in now in session. The Honorable Meister "Nitro" Sloth presiding."

Marco watched as a sloth walked into the courtroom, he didn't have the usual slowness of sloths he encountered and he was decked in casual black and white. He cleared his throat before speaking,

"Good day to you all, please be seated."

"Now, entering Queen Eclipsa. Followed by the jury."

Marco watched as Eclipsa came from the left, flanked by Rhombulus and Hekapoo, Omnitraxus Prime followed behind. To the right, 12 royal members served as the jury, they filed into the benches and made no eye contact to the audience.

"Good day to you all, are both sides ready? Calling the case of the People of Mewni versus Queen Eclipsa…commence!"

Marco felt his entire body flung back as the jury, the defendant table, the prosecutor table and even the judge himself, roared and howled at each other at the top of their lungs. The audience followed, hopping on the pews and screaming into the din of arguments.

Marco stared at all of them, completely shook at the sudden madness that erupted all over the courtroom, he ducked when something flew over his head, he even saw Buff Frog beating his chest with his fists before he went under.

Marco caught random glimpses of Star on the table pointing fingers, brandishing her wand shooting confetti, Moon yelling, River spewing insults, the two attorneys throwing their suitcases at each other, Hekapoo folded her arms, Rhombulus ran into a wall, the sloth throwing his gavel and hitting Omni, the jury hopping up and down on the benches, someone grabbed his hoodie and pulled him back, he quickly slapped the person who turned out to be Pony Head.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"SHUT UP DA FUCK UP EARTH TURD!

Marco readied to slap her again but instead she flew and tackled a jury member, biting his shirt.

Gouts of fire shot to the ceiling, things were thrown or broken, and the screaming didn't stop, Marco clapped his hands over his ears, he was tempted to use his sword to quiet them down.

He saw Eclipsa for moment, she gave him a cheerful smile.

 _What in the—!?_

He blinked dumbly when the entire courtroom's madness abruptly stopped and the occupants walked back to their places, as if nothing had happened at all. Marco left his mouth agape when the judge straighten himself up, looking at the courtroom as if the entire exchange was normal,

"I've heard your arguments, facts, testimony and evidence, I'm sure the jury heard a sufficient amount, yes?"

"We have your honor."  
"Plenty."  
"Yes…  
"Utter rubbish."

"Yes, thank you. Please, each sides may have their closing remarks, if you wish to say anything you may do so now."

Marco looked at the audience then back to the court, he was in disbelief that the entire trial took place in the span of a yelling contest. He edged to one royal and quietly asked, "Um, this is my first Mewni court trial session interrogation? What just happened?"

The mewman gave him a look, "Weren't you listening? Obviously Moon was stating the consequences of Eclipsa's runaway and damages of her lax reign and—you know what, she's gonna say it again. Just listen more carefully next time."

"But all I heard was screaming. Incoherent screaming."

"That's how all courts are done here, if they went formally it would take days to finish and we royals don't have time for that procedure. This way everyone is heard and they may speak freely, even us the audience can sway the decision."

"…that sounds messy."

The royal shrugged, "It has worked before, why wouldn't it work now? Besides, the scribes jot everything down, if something is amiss they will show it to the judge and then we can have another trial." Pointing towards the ceiling.

Marco didn't understand but then again, Earth's justice system was just as different from Mewni's own, _I guess it's not my place to say whose right…especially I just decided to live here…I don't even know the how their government is managed until recently…_

He straightens up and watched as Queen Moon collected herself and walked to the front,

"People of Mewni, lest not forget the consequences and damages Queen Eclipsa has done to the Butterfly Kingdom and in extension, all other kingdoms because of her selfish desires. The turmoil she caused led to many unnecessary hardships for kingdoms near and far as well as putting my many great grandmother through a hard reign at such a young age, she lost her father and her irresponsible mother fleeing with a monster. Eclipsa abandoned her birthright, her kingdom, her sacred duty as leader and her very own child to pursue the dark magic as well as the dark arts for heinous reasons no doubt. Setting her free invites the destruction of Mewni and everything we hold dear, prosperity and peace will be a fleeting dream if she were to walk free."

"Thank you, Queen Moon. Now we will hear from Queen Eclipsa's attorney and Princess Star."

"Queen Eclipsa left the Butterfly Kingdom as an act of self sacrifice, do you not think it would be heart breaking to leave all that you know as you venture to the unknown? I—?"

The attorney took a step back as Star ran forward.

"Queen Eclipsa was wrongfully imprisoned for centuries for the crimes of love! Crystalized because she chose to love someone who wasn't mewman! Is it a crime to love? No! It's not! So what if he was a monster? Love can be unexpected! Love at first sight! Battlefield Passion!? What about that?"

"That's irrelevant Star! She's still practice and made dark magic spells, that's not something that can be overlooked! Do you think it is a game to dabble in the dark arts? The damages it can cause? Dark magic is not natural and it is an affront to nature and anyone who practices it!"

Moon pulled her glove free and held it to the court, everyone gasped except a few like Star, Marco, River and Eclipsa at the sight of Moon's black-purple hand, it had spread thickly to almost her elbow.

"This is what Dark Magic and Arts does to you! I only used one spell from Eclipsa, spoken from her very forked tongue and damages are irreversible! Imagine a life long pursuit of such dangerous magic and knowledge!"

"All knowledge is good knowledge!" Star retorted back to her mother.

The two began to bicker before the judge had his gavel returned and he slammed it down into the podium, the resulting gong made everyone's teeth rattle.

"Enough! Enough. Please just stick to your earlier arguments, then the jury will FINALLY come to a decision. They will be led to the next room to decide the fate of Eclipsa."

Star and Moon glared at each other and stalked back to their seats, the attorneys glanced to each other before Moon's attorney stood up.

"Your honor, esteemed jury and audience…  
Eclipsa has failed her kingdom, abandon her family and sacred birthright.  
Consorted and married a monster.  
Practice the dark arts and magic during her reign.  
Conspiracy to do harm to the natural order on Mewni.  
Has intimate knowledge of the existing kingdoms.  
And more over, a threat that if not resolved properly will have dire consequences.  
I beseech you all that Eclipsa…"

The attorney bent to Moon, she whispered in his ear.

"Is recrystallized and placed under watch indefinitely."

Star glared at her mother, however Eclipsa patted her arm, "Don't be too hard on your mother, she probably changed from the usual 'execute' to 'imprison', very kind of her."

Marco listened, some of the charges felt rather ambiguous, he looked towards Eclipsa and she looked calm as ever as her attorney stood up.

"Your honor, the fair jury and audience…  
You may all see Eclipsa abandoning her kingdom as an act of betrayal.  
It is not.  
She left because she was unfit to lead the kingdom.  
Her departure also spared her child from the stigma Eclipsa had.  
While she did dabbled in the dark arts and married a monster, no ill result has been seen.  
Since she had left her crystal prison no kingdom has been felled or harmed at all.  
She has even reappeared to one of the most heavily fortified kingdom, aptly able to subdue her.  
Since her containment in the Butterfly Kingdom, she has showed no ill will to any of staff or family and has been nothing short of cooperating since she has been arrested.  
Will this be the first of many future trials and crimes that someone is persecuted for their affection and love? Will it be a crime to pursue knowledge and self-discovery?  
I ask once again that my client be shown leniency."

Moon opened her mouth to retort before she closed it, her hand on her temple. The attorney sat back down as the jury looked at each other, murmuring before the court guards led them away.

The courtroom was tense with energy, many of the audience whispering at the trial and what transpired.

Marco tried to catch some of the tidbits, to fill in the many gaps of his lacking knowledge of Mewni law.

"What a stalemate."  
"This could go either way."  
"Bah, both of them didn't put a fight."  
"Spotty, I'd say…"  
"So just imprisonment, eh?"  
"Doubt they gonna use da crystal again."

Marco felt the unease of the audience, they were obviously not happy with Eclipsa walking free and if she was punished…it was imprisonment or something more permanent. He looked back to Eclipsa, she was calm as ever, she even fished out a candy bar and began to eat while Star was muttering to herself, as if repeating a mantra. The attorney was doing the same too.

Moon, River and their attorney simply looked worried at what transpired and if their arguments had swayed the jury's minds. No doubt, they thought of Eclipsa's retaliation at being charged with crime centuries ago, although the Queen of Darkness would think of them as if it was yesterday.

The tension didn't abate even as an hour passed, the judge took a seat and began to type on his phone, "Sorry…can't come to the house party…stuck doing judge duty. Kill me."

Marco sighed and waited, his thoughts drifting back and forth at the outcome of the trial, if Eclipsa was left free, things were going to be shaky, Star was clearly idolizing her. And if she wasn't…well Star would be at her mother's throat with her basically putting Eclipsa on a silver platter. Their home relationship wasn't going to be pretty either way.

He was bound to Star either by his squire position and his personal relationship…he didn't want to confront it but he knew he was slipping further and further away from his best friend. Jackie saw through him easily. Him coming to Mewni was a mistake, coming back for Star who clearly missed him but decided to move on with her life and he was basically stagnating, thinking he could be just like her: carefree with her responsibilities and duties.

 _If I ever make it back to Earth…I'm going to catch up with everyone...I won't be left in the dust._

Marco thought about going home so many times, maybe when he concluded his education with Buttercup and the ghost he would head home, Star would be heartbroken but hey that's what Tom is for. It was an eventuality but he knew it would be painful to watch them drift apart and have someone fill that void even if it wasn't him.

She belonged on Mewni, learning to run the kingdom she would inherit and he belonged to Earth. Funny part about it was while he on Mewni he was being an actual misunderstood bad boy: making bad decisions and misunderstanding the situation. He finally got to be the person he always visualized he was and being in the mold made him feel all sorts of sick, he perverted the image of himself and he regretted it.

When the doors swung open, Marco sat up again, he was slouching while he thought and muse as the jury walked in. The judge, the two parties and the audience watched them intently as they sat down and looked at the judge.

One of them stood up and looked a folded sheet of paper, the judged looked at them for a minute, Marco wasn't sure if he was waiting or being slow, he was a sloth after all.

Another minute passed.

"Um…?"

"Have you all reached an unanimous verdict of the trial?"

"We have your honor…

The herald took the sheet and gave it to the sloth judge, he opened it and read it. He handed it back to the herald and he cleared his throat:

"The Jury of 12 finds Eclipsa Butterfly, the Queen of Darkness…"

Marco felt everything twist painfully in his gut, Star slowly pushed herself off the chair, Moon and River were painfully silent, the audience felt as if they were sitting on a powder keg, the next words would be a spark for outrage or relief.

"...guilty."

The audience gave an audible sigh of relief and Star and a few others cried foul at the results.

"What!? NO! Eclipsa did nothing wrong!"  
"This is an outrage!"

The attorney sunk his head, Eclipsa patted him on the shoulder. Moon, River and their attorney didn't even reacted to the news and merely sat there as if still waiting for more. The judge slammed the gavel again and looked at them all,

"The jury is thanked for their verdict, this is a trial of utmost importance. Thank you for your participation. Eclipsa, you have been found guilty of the crimes charged against you…your punishment will be… indefinite imprisonment."

Eclipsa nodded before she stood up, Star looked at her tearfully, "I'm so sorry…" "It's quite alright, Star, you gave me a chance to stand trial instead of being found and…well, that doesn't really matter. Your Honor, I do have one request before you ship me off…where ever I'm to be imprisoned."

"We don't do last requests, Eclipsa." Moon said calmly. She smirked before turning to the audience, "Well, it isn't for me, it's more like a present I wanted to give before I go…he might not see me after today so I want to do it now."

The judge looked at her strangely, "Mhmmm, alright I want to hear it first." "Your honor!" "Please Queen Moon, if it's not more candy bars I can stand to hear it."

Moon muttered under her breath, "She ate a lifetime's worth already…"

"I want Marco to come here."

He froze in his seat as everyone looked at him, he looked away, Eclipsa laughed, "Boy, it's nothing to be afraid of, c'mon now, the court is waiting."

Marco gritted his teeth before he stood up, the look of worry and uncertainty on Moon and Star's face got to him. He entered the court area and looked at Eclipsa, she smiled before standing in front of him, glancing up and down, "My, you've grown quite a bit, you'll be towering over me soon!"

"What do you want?"

Eclipsa chuckled, "I decided what your fifteenth birthday present would be…I don't have access to my belongings, I thought of giving you my dragon gemstone pendant or a crystal beast horn."

The audience gasped, muttering to each other; Marco caught the words 'priceless', 'rare', 'lucky', 'aren't those legends?' but he kept his eyes on her.

"But those pale in comparison to what I found would be perfect for a squire of your caliber such as yourself…now Marco: KNEEL."

It was more of a command than a request especially when he felt an oppressive weight suddenly fell on his shoulders, forcing him to take the knee, his head hung as he struggled to fight against the force. The audience just stared in awe, as did everyone else, the judge, Star, Moon and even the Magical High Commission. Eclipsa held out her hand and Star's wand zipped to her without hesitation.

A look of fear surged out of everyone's face.

Eclipsa took a deep breath even as Star glanced at her empty hand to Eclipsa, the wand changing to it's parasol form, she spoke in a clear and bold voice, as to not be misunderstood what she said next:

"I, **Eclipsa Butterfly** , the Queen of Darkness and the powers vested to me by my mother and mothers before her, the royal lineage of the Butterflys, and those all present to witness…I dub thee…"

Marco refused to speak his name, however the pressure increased more and more until it felt as if he was going to flatten into the ground. He uttered his name reluctantly and bitterly through gritted teeth to the smiling queen, "Marco…Ublado…Diaz."

Eclipsa smiled victoriously.

"Knighthood, for his countless heroic deeds in the service to my family and to the kingdom. You shall have all the benefices afforded by your station along with the duty and responsibilities accordingly…as an **_Mewni_** **_Dark Knight_**."

Eclipsa smiled at the forced kneeling Marco as she tapped his shoulders to christen him with Star's wand, "Ah, to think I finally performed a knighting ceremony and to one so deserving, delightful!"

Everyone stared at Marco before Eclipsa calmly levitated the wand and sent it back to Star's open hand, she was oblivious to it as Marco buckled and he stood up, he looked to his feet, unsure if he should look anyone in the eye.

"Alright, I can go to my punishment with a lighter heart!" Eclipsa said cheerfully.

It took a good few seconds of the shock to leave everyone before they screamed and raged at the sudden development that just occurred before their very eyes. Everyone was clearly upset, Star and Moon taking it extremely badly.

"What have you done…?"  
"Marco?!"

Eclipsa ignored the commotion and merely tilted Marco's chin up, "Well, Marco, do you like my gift to you?"

Marco slowly met her eyes, it was bright with fury and outrage, Eclipsa merely smiled as Hekapoo, Rhombulus and Omin started for her, "That's enough, Eclipsa! Prepare to be crystalized!"

"Blastin' time!"

Marco felt himself rooted to the spot as Moon and Star stood up, "You've damned the boy, Eclipsa! You do not have one ounce of sympathy to others don't you!"

"Oh, I have plenty sympathy, Moon. More than you do. I merely did what is right, Marco risked his own life for the kingdom and what he got in return was a pat on the back and a mucky cape. Shame on you, River."

The king took the insult hard as he looked away from Eclipsa.

"And Moon you exaggerate: I damned Marco? A Mewni Dark Knight is one of the highest honors that a mewman, human in this case, can ever receive."

Moon stopped the Magical High Commission, they looked at her then to Eclipsa, Moon brought herself to full height before she spoke, "Your knighting holds no merit! None whatsoever! Marco does not hold that title!"

Eclipsa merely looked up to the ceiling, "Scribes? Are you listening?"

There was a sudden rumble before the sound of an antiqued typewriter was heard over head, a massive one.

The judged glanced at his stand as a sheet of paper came out, he read it out loud, "Yes."

"How have you been chronicling my trial? How do you address me? And the one's present?"

The judge read the sheet that came out, "Yes, as Eclipsa Butterfly, the Queen of Darkness."

"Am I still a Queen and a Queen of reign?"

Everyone's stomach dropped as the massive typewriter above clang to life, the judge stared at the sheet and read it, his voice just above a whisper, "Yes to both."

Eclipsa smiled at Moon, a knowing sinister smile, "As you all just found out, I am still a Queen, a Butterfly and still a Queen of my reign. While I was imprisoned my rule has never quite finished has it, my dear Moon? In fact, I could say YOU are a treasonous usurper to my throne as you can see: I am quite in fact alive and you only inherit the throne when the older Butterfly matriarch steps down…or dies. Isn't that correct?

"And for the knighting…it does hold merit since I still am a Queen."

"But Marco is my squire!" Star cried as Moon stood there completely shut down by Eclipsa, Star looked at the Queen of Darkness, pleading. Eclipsa merely tilted her head and smiled,

"Ah, but Star, it doesn't have to be you who makes him a knight, so long as he shows unquestionable heroism and service, a lord, king, queen or an outstanding knight may grant him knighthood. However, as a Queen I not only am I above you…I am also above your mother, as an Elder Butterfly I supersede the both of you in that regard. Marco Diaz is a Mewni Dark Knight and that means he has a slew of new benefits among which he may choose a new liege…or stay with his current one. He is free to choose, a freedom of choice."

Everyone turned to Marco, he still didn't look at any of them.

"Enough! Your punishment has been already decided! Go to your sentence peacefully, Eclipsa!" Moon barked.

Eclipsa sighed before shrugging,

"Alright, I yield. A queen must still follow the laws of the lands, yes?"

The court sighed in relief; the roll coaster of developments brought them an awful amount of emotional upheavals.

"Oh, I do have one, tiniest question…"

The entire courtroom groaned, Eclipsa put her hands on her hips as if for the first time insulted since the trial.

"Fine, let's hear it." Moon finally got to say, very irritable. She shot Marco a look of worry,

"What are you going to do to Marco?"

The question echoed through the courtroom and even Marco managed to rouse himself from his shock. Moon, the judge, the jury, the Magical High Commission and most of the audience looked at her with a stony face. Few, like Star, Buff Frog and the like were puzzled at the question.

"…as it stands…Marco might have to be…put on watch and go through a series of tests to make sure your magic or influence hasn't tainted him in any way."

Marco was alarmed at the news, he looked at Moon in disbelief, "I'm to be put on watch? What am I: a criminal?"

"Marco, you have to understand that the history of Mewni Dark Knights are nothing short but painful and abdominal acts…bearing the title of Dark Knight alone warrants suspicion, disgust and fear, but to be given the title by someone like Eclipsa…it might as well be a death sentence."

"Then why didn't you—any of you stopped her! Eclipsa just—she—!" Marco was in a loss of words, he looked at the audience and they looked away, the jury, the judge, River, the Magical High Commission, he looked at Star but she looked just as worried.

"I'm sorry Marco…it happened so suddenly…"

"REALLY? Eclipsa took her sweet time doing it! Can't you just un-dark knight me? Queen Moon, you can just knight me to be a regular one!"

"I'm afraid she can't, I am a Queen above her and besides Moon is really exaggerating how bad a Dark Knight is Marco, my mother had one and he was celebrated. Are you gonna lump the boy with a couple bad apples in the barrel?"

Marco ignored her.

"Can't she pardon me then? And what's to say that I'm going to be just like the Dark Knights of the past?"

"Tell that to all the victims they slaughter and butchered in a frenzy...paladins, valkyries, hell knights." came an answer from the crowd, Marco tried to see who said it but no one owned up to it.

"Wait, so a Dark Knight is worse than a hell knight?! They have the word 'hell' in their name!" Marco said to no one in particular.

"Marco, dude, that's insensitive!" Tom hollered followed by other Underworld members.

Marco tried to retort back to them all but his lack of knowledge of it made him close his mouth, he tighten his fists as everyone just looked at him.

Eclipsa looked at him apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Marco, I didn't think knighting you would cause so much uproar…"

Again Marco felt the sudden but righteous urge to strangle the Queen, his anger manifested so badly that it made the tower rumble.

Marco blinked before he glanced to the side far left of the tower, it shook again, _holy shit…I didn't think I was that mad!_

However, the rumbling didn't stop as the tower shook again and again, everyone in the courtroom looked around alarmed.

"What in the world—!?"  
"It's an earthquake!"  
"What's going on!"

The court room occupants screamed as the tower shook violent, Hekapoo, Rhombulus and Omni turned to see the far wall suddenly give and they were caught as the debris fell upon them, Omni's frame taking most of it and shielding the two.

The attorney, judge and jury moved to the far right end, as did the audience, the knights rushed forward but mighty blows sent them flying, their unconscious bodies not rising. Eclipsa, Star, Moon, River and Marco stared who had broken into the tower: Mina Loveberry.

"So this is where you've been hiding Eclipsa! Just like the doctor said!" came the monstrous voice of Mina in her hulking form.

"Mina have you gone mad!?"  
"Oh…oh shit."  
"This is unbecoming of you."

Star pointed her wand at her, Moon unfurl her wings, however Eclipsa looked at her coldly, a look of disdain marring her usual calm face.

Mina hovered over them, "Now, I can crush your head in! How long I waited Eclipsa, you wouldn't believe!"

"…who the feck are?" Eclipsa asked with a raised eyebrow.

Had been someone else, they would have been smeared against the floor however Mina laughed loudly, the audience began to discreetly make for the door, slipping out of sight, Tom and Pony Head remained behind.

"Don't play dumb with me, Eclipsa! I know—urgh, you, ah—!" Mina grabbed her head, foaming at the mouth.

Everyone present stared as Mina yelled and screamed, clutching her head, "GET—MY HEAD—UGHA! Doctor's orders!"

Marco grabbed Star and pulled her away as Mina power dived, missing Eclipsa and clipping the table, Marco yelled as the table slammed into him forcing him to let go of Star and him to hang on the wall.

He struggled as his hoodie was caught before he slipped out of it and fell into the jury pews, the jury, judge and attorneys long gone. Mina landed in front of Eclipsa, her hair and dukes aimed at the queen, Moon, River and Star made rapid glances at the two, the Magical High Commission struggling to free themselves.

"Your ilk may have ran away…hid like a rat…but you wont escape! You hear me!? You and your-!"

Star blasted Mina at that point before she slipped the beans, it bounced off the mewman but it did get her attention, Star backed away before Moon flew at her shooting energy beams and bolts, Mina growled and backhand the queen through the judge's stand.

"Moonpie!"  
"Mom!"

"Mina is so dead." Hekapoo said astonished, Rhombulus and Omni nodded in agreement.

"Enough games—urk! Ahh!" Mina grabbed her head again just as Marco came back to view in time to see Mina lift her arm and a powerful glow began to seep into her fist, Eclipsa backed away, as did everyone who could move. Tom threw his demonic bindings but with her free hand, Mina smashed them to pieces as if they were made out of cardboard.

Marco leapt out of the jury benches and ran forward, sensing what Mina was intending to do would kill everyone in the tower. He drew his sword and it crackled with power, she brought her fist down as Star stood there in shock, Marco roared and swung his sword hard. Mina's hand shot forward and grabbed him by his shirt, but it was too late.

A shockwave arc screamed out of the sword and sent Mina flying into the wall, cracking it before she slumped into the ground. River ran to Moon, Rhombulus used his crystals to push the debris off him allowing Omni and Hekapoo to crawl out, Tom and Pony Head ran to Star with Marco shirtless, clutching his sword.

"Well done, Marco, you saved—ahh!" Eclipsa groaned collapsing to the floor, golden magic flew from her and her cheek marks and seeped into Marco, the Roman numeral three turned to two. Marco grasps it, feeling the raw power, his cheeks tingled and he was winded from the experience.

"Marco…?"  
"Muscles…"  
"Dude, what did you do?"  
"How…?"

Marco looked at them, unsure what was going on, he tilted his sword and saw on the metallic reflection the moon cheek marks. He felt hands on his jeans and he turned to see Eclipsa, she looked extremely tired but still mustered to smile at him before it falter, quickly standing up and looking at his face with great interest, "Marco? How long have you had those?"

"…"

Marco refused to answer her, even if it was private or not. Mina groaned and Marco pushed Eclipsa aside and pointed his sword at her, she shook her head and looked at him then to the others,

"Holy bananas…how did I end up here? ECLIPSA!?"

Okay, now everyone was doing double takes at Mina.

"Mina do you know what you have done!?"

"…no?"

Everyone was flabbergasted at the reply.

"You broke into Butterfly Judicial Tower! You put the lives of royalty, a judge and many others lives in peril! You toppled a wall on the Magical High Commission! You attacked Queen Moon!"

Mina stared at them as if she was hearing it for the first time. She looked at Moon who was nursing a swollen cheek, River glaring daggers at her, she turned to everyone, she was sweating bullets.

"Er, doctors orders?"

Everyone looked ready to kill.

"That doesn't matter! None of this matter! Not even Eclipsa or her…her…?"

"Time out…" Marco said through gritted teeth as his hand tightens around the sword, Eclipsa rolled her eyes.

"Because her daughter is loose! Meteora is loose on MEWNI!"

Marco and Star felt a collective punch to the gut, Moon and everyone else stared at Mina.

"Whose Meteora?"  
"Eclipsa's daughter?"

"Are you talking about my grandmother?!"

Mina stared at them, she roared, "NO YOU DUNDERHEADS! METEORA THE MONSTER MEWMAN HYBRID CHILD, ECLIPSA'S DAUGHTER!"

Everyone in the room had what seemed like a metaphorical glass pane break in their psyche. Eclipsa stared at Mina who quickly caught her breath, as she looked at both Marco and Star, the boy being the closer of the two.

"And you told no one! You're a filthy traitor to the kingdom! TRAITOR! You didn't even tell the donut patrol or the Queen! Why haven't you told anyone?!"

Marco could feel eyes roving around at Mina and everyone else, they were unsure who Mina was exactly yelling at, but it seemed in her insanity she was blaming someone in the room who knew about Meteora, he could hear Star's subtle but sudden hyperventilating.

Marco felt the hairs stand on ends as Eclipsa's head tilt so very slowly, her eyes meeting his then to Star's form behind him.

"Meteora…a mewman…monster…hybrid…how? Who? WHO KNEW!? TELL ME NOW MINA!" came Moon's sudden cry of outrage, bouncing off the walls.

Marco felt her mind racing, Mina was going to spill the beans that Marco and Star knew and did nothing, burying the truth as the Magical High Commission instead chased Mina and were too late to uncover Meteora's Nursery, it being smashed to pieces before set on fire courtesy of Tom and Mina.

His eyes fell on Mina, her eyes all white but he felt, no knew, she was looking right at him, a feral grin spread across her face, she quickly spat her answer just as Marco flung his sword with all his strength, unsure how to handle the situation.

"It was that boy a—AHHHH!"

Marco winced, he was too late, but the sword spun for the mewman, it screamed as if everything around it was being ripped apart, Mina readied herself against the blade.

 _Damnit! DAMNIT! MINA WHY YOU CRAZY COOT! JUST GO AWAY!_

The sword slammed into the wall.  
And Mina was nowhere to be seen.

Marco breathed heavily at what he had done, unsure what he had done to Mina and what he landed himself in. He didn't look at Moon, River, Rhombulus, Omni, Hekapoo, Tom, Pony Head and especially Star, but he could feel their astonishment and disbelieving eyes stabbing into his back. Eclipsa looked at him, there was no anger or shock, instead she looked amused at the spectacle.

"Marco…did…did you…what did you do to Mina?" Moon's voice broke the unnatural silence, Marco didn't face her, his eyes looked out the broken wall, he could see several unconscious knights littering the place, meaning there would be no one coming soon.

"I don't know…I didn't kill her…I just…wanted her to go away."

"WHY? She had information…you have information." The words were soft but the accusation was hard.

"…" Marco thought hard at what Moon was implying, he was hiding information as was Star, but Mina's accusation only pointed the finger to him…at the moment. He didn't like where things were headed, it would only end badly and he was already neck deep in shit.

However, Marco needed to know how neck deep he was in, Buttercup and Oblivion won many situations in the past from knowing what was going on and twisting it to their advantage or at least avoiding something catastrophic, _this isn't some lesson or training with no…no real consequence._

 _I could die today._

 ** _Me too._**

"If I did…"

"THEN YOU DO!" came the immediate roar from Moon, Marco winced.

"If I did…and I didn't tell you…what would happen to me?"

There was a brief silence. Marco chalked it up to Moon inhaling deeply to scream at him again.

"A list of things I shouldn't say aloud, but rest assured Marco, 'interrogation', 'imprisonment' and 'execution' does come to mind." Came a hostile growl from Moon.

Marco gulped, he spoke again, "But I'm a royal squire to—!"

"I! DON'T! CARE! You put my kingdom in danger, you put the other kingdoms in danger, countless lives in danger, you jeopardized the entirety of MEWNI! For what Marco?! What was so important that you put everyone at stake!?"

"…"  
"…"

Why did Marco stay quiet? That night was such a blur, the knights, Rhombulus, him almost dying, Tom and Star too weak to stop Mina, in the insanity of the night, he knew that Star just wanted to keep the knowledge of Meteora in the back burner while she sorted her feelings on what she learned. There was just a silent agreement to not speak of the matter, neither however stated when it was best to bring up to Moon or the proper authorities.

Marco was afraid what would befell Star while she feared what could happen if she told her parents of her plans.

"W—I was afraid what you would do…" Marco corrected himself, it just sounded as if he was jumpy to answer the question.

"Why in the heavens for, Marco? I would have listened! This is something that concerns all of us! Just tell us what you know." She snapped.

Marco closed his eyes, feeling out his options he just hoped Star wouldn't jump in, "What Mina just said is all **_I_** know. Meteora is Eclipsa's daughter."

"How did you find out that tidbit of information, Marco? Eclipsa fled far from here and there hasn't been one stone unturned when they searched for her, how could _you_ have come across finding her daughter?"

"Can I ask a question: what is Meteora?"

"An abomination clearly." Said River, Marco felt a wave of killer intent come off Eclipsa.

"Queen Moon?"

"…it's as River said."

"But isn't she a Butterfly too?"

"She's a monster too. She will have no place on the throne. Or this royal family."

Marco felt a sudden pit in his stomach, he doubted if Star didn't feel the same with how frigid cold Moon's replies was. He looked at Eclipsa and she merely shrugged, as if she was expecting the answer.

"Do you know where she is?"

"No."

"Then how did you learn of her?" came next.

He thought back to the Monster Bash, there was no way he was gonna say it was there because it would implicate every royal family, including Star, Tom and Pony Head present.

He had to lie.  
He had to lie to keep them safe.

He had to lie to keep Star safe.

"She…showed up one night…fleeing Mina. She was yelling at her and I just caught what was said…"

"What did she look like then?"

"…couldn't see that well."

Marco knew it wasn't good enough, he was stalling the inevitable and eventually he would be bound and tortured until he answered truthfully.

"Marco…what are you hiding. You already confessed, just spit it out! Eclipsa, what does your child look like?"

The queen touched her chin, "Hmmm, well, she's an hag, screaming at the top of her lungs and currently thinking of shooting Marco in the back of his head. Oh, no! That's you, Moon."

"…'thinking'? Eclipsa you aren't even facing me, neither one of you are." Moon said slowly.

"Ah, well, yes. You see, I've been reading all of your minds, the things you are planning to do to wring information out of us, well to be frank: barbaric. Just like our Mewman ancestors."

"You!"  
"…reading our minds?"

"Impossible."

Eclipsa sneered at them before poking Marco on the side, "Except this one. I don't know how, but I'm getting nothing out of him."

"Well, duh, Earth Turds head is emptyyy."

"Well not empty as yours and rock head over there."

The two puffed up at the insult. Moon looked at Marco, "Are you working for Eclipsa Marco? You've done nothing but dodged the questions…what has she promised you, because it is a foolish offer you accepted…"

Marco was silent; Moon was exasperated with the beating around the bush, "Fine Marco…Eclipsa…I guess we'll just have to make you talk."

Everyone sans the Magical High Commission looked at her in shock.

"Mom, you're not serious?!"

"Be quiet Star…I have some questions for you too. He _was_ your squire after all."

Marco felt every muscle fiber rigid and tense, his eyes fell on his sword: without it he wouldn't stand a chance against the Moon, the Magical High Commission and whoever decided to join the fray. Moon's eyes fell on Rhombulus, a silent command and without warning a blast crystal came flying out, Marco had already rolled forward and yanked his sword free.

Still shirtless, only in his jeans and shoes, he pulled the carapace over his gloves and readied himself with the sword, his crescent moon cheeks and roman numeral on his chest glowed as he faced them

Eclipsa snorted and sidestep the crystalizing blast easily.

"She promised me nothing…"

"Kinda rude when you just sapped magic from me." Eclipsa said in a whisper.

"Marco it's pointless to lie! I can clearly see she put something on you! What are those cheek mark? Did you ask for magic? What has she done to you?!" Moon demanded, he shook his head, again if he revealed what the magic symbols were originated from he would implicate Star even further. From her sleeping portal travels to her using Monster Arm on him, the former being reason enough to watch her and the latter was dark magic from Eclipsa herself.

"I'm sorry Queen Moon…even after all the things you have done for me since my stay and your hospitality…I can't tell you."

His thoughts on Star, she watched him fearfully even as Tom held her close and Pony Head glared at him, how much would it cost him to keep her safe?

He found out soon enough when Omni came to him flying in a form of an oversized fist, he held the sword sideways as the blow sent him flying out of the opening Mina made, the Magical High Commission rushing afterwards. Eclipsa watched them before turning to face Moon, "Don't even think of running amongst the chaos, Eclipsa."

"I don't plan to." She said coldly as Moon, and Star coming behind slowly.

* * *

Marco flipped and landed just as he dodged Omni's fist crashing down on the courtyard, Hekapoo and Rhombulus catching up. Marco sized up Omni before he realized on the outside he was a towering hulk of cosmic powers, Marco could hear the many teachings of Oblivion and Buttercup ringing in his ears as he dodged the oversized fists and stomps.

 _When you duel a giant, one on one is foolish unless you are faster and have some plan to level the field. They can change the landscape, cross great distances and have insane strength; you will tire out faster than they will. The best thing to do is blindside them, actually blind them or match them in size and strength._

Marco back flipped and even wall run to avoid the massive foe's advance.

 _Or better yet…bring them to your level._

Marco rolled away from the overhead stomp, he glanced at the mammoth entity before channeling his sword, Omni took notice before he said confidently to him in a booming voice overhead,

"That little toothpick won't hurt the likes of me!"

"I didn't plan on hurting you! Any of you!"

Marco leapt back as Omni tried to crush him before he sank his sword into the ground, looking at where he stood,

 **EARTH EATER!**

The sword glowed and without warning the ground where he stood suddenly collapsed and Omni buckled, he tried to pull his feet free but instead he sank ever lower, he grabbed the nearby ground but that broke apart. Instead he grew, but his immense size could not match the rate of him sinking forcing him to stop moving, seeing as the pit was getting larger and no doubt would swallow all surrounding area.

"…shit."

Marco spun his sword, flecking off earth, his sword had grown teeth and it chatter loudly. He dodged a crystal blast for his face, Rhombulus was ready to tangle with him, his snakes hissed at him.

Marco leapt and dodged the fired crystals, the muscle of the MHC glanced at the down giant before the snakes whispered to the head, Marco heard the echo of his teachers again.

 _Two heads are better than one. Three or more is even worse. That's why hydras their ilk are so deceptively hard to kill, poisonous, large and wild, they are unpredictable. I fought one and I decided it was best to leave it at that._

 _With that many heads, you have to contend with each one, they are always different from each other. However, with that many heads gives rise to their greatest flaw: one body and too many thoughts can conflict with each other. Misdirection is key as well as knowing the weak spot, that's how you exploit a many-headed foe._

Marco realized that they already had a plan: stay well away and fire from a distance. Seeing their friend stuck made it all the more reason to be far from his blade edge, something Marco would never think Rhombulus would do, seeing as he was more instinct than thought.

Marco decided to play their game, if they wanted to fight afar, he could manage that. He took a deep breath and steady himself, the crystal thing began to fire a barrage a moment later and he began to deflect or outright dodge the blasts, sending the crystals elsewhere, some even hitting Omni, who yelled.

Marco spied Hekapoo staying back, watching the conflict.

He shook himself out of it only to stop as a blast passed his guard and caught his ankle; Rhombulus cheered himself on at the hit.

"GOTCHA MUNCHKIN!"

Marco frowned, but he shrugged and continued to fight, deflecting even with his hampered leg. Feeling a bit more confident, Rhombulus got closer, the deflected blasts began to form a crystal cage around him.

"Bwahaha! What are you gonna do now, boy!"

Marco could feel the sweat pouring down his chest and brow, he was getting tired and he was still far away, "Heh, it' easy to say that when you fight like that, all that muscle and you cower from there!"

He kept his face rigid as the snakes kept Rhombulus from running down to thrash him.

"…fine, I guess I'll just come to you."

Without warning Marco grabbed his scissors and slashed behind him and fell through it, the second end sprout behind Rhombulus and the two fell tumbling into the crystal cage.

"I don't believe this!" "Couldn't just stay on the HIGH GROUND!"  
"OH SHUT IT!"

Marco got to his feet sheathing his sword, looking at his ankle then to the crystal enforcer who grinned darkly, "Guess we're gonna have us a little tussle…"

"Fine by me, a little rumble in the jungle!"

He tapped his gloves together giving the dull thuds before he brought it down on the crystal on his ankle, the two consecutive hits cracked it before the third, fourth shatter it apart to the awe of Rhombulus.

"HOW—!?"  
"No more talking!" Marco flung himself on the enforcer, he was significantly weaker than him but he got something that made him scared and the element of surprise was behind his fists.

The first two hits got him on the gut then the face, his head rattled before he brought the snake arms to block himself, Marco was relentless and punched into the snakes they squeaked and shot the crystal blasts but it was for naught as the blast would bounce off the carapace gloves.

However, Rhombulus wasn't going to lay down forever, he kicked Marco off him and tried to blast him from his crystal head, Marco backhand it away before charging at him.

"Oh crud!" he leapt as Marco tried to bury his fists into his head again.

He felt like a madman, swinging and punching, the enforcer scurried away from him, in his adrenaline fuel chase, the dull voices of his teachers tried to push through.

Marco yelped when he tried to haymaker Rhombulus he was caught by the snake arms, biting into his gloves before the crystal head got him on the chest, incasing him in a shell rather than a full body crystal.

"Crystal nipples…you are one…angry… little boy…" he huffed, Marco roared and tried to roll to his feet, his rage slowly dwindled and he realized what just happened. He felt foolish, he let his battle rage override his common sense and he just went literal ape shit and got caught by Rhombulus.

 _Emotion has its place on the battlefield. More than once I felt the desire for vengeance when I saw a friend, a companion, a soldier or a knight fell to the onslaught to the monster…but I had to keep a level head or I would join them. You have to learn to fuel your rage into a cohesive action and thought, so you can at least anticipate what could come next._

Marco glared at Rhombulus, but he knew it wasn't his fault he left himself open to be taken advantage of. He closed his eyes and tried to think of his way out of the mess, he could pound the crystal to be sure, but he was definitely going to hurt himself, his ankle hurt a fair bit after the strikes.

Rhombulus readied to shoot him, this time it wasn't going to be a hurried shot, it would definitely encase him and he would be trapped. Trapped and no doubt brought before Moon until he spilled his guts.

 _I need to escape…if I could just…!_

His hand moved to his sword and his fingers touched the cold edge.

The blast came and his vision turned white.

Rhombulus looked at the crystal before he nearly shit crystal diamonds, Marco was gone! He looked around frantically, unable to comprehend how he escaped from something that was inescapable.

"Maybe he evaporated?"  
"GAH! I lost him!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

Rhombulus turned his head just in time to see Marco falling from above, his fist smashed into his face and he felt the crystal shriek as the violent vibrations almost burst his head open. Marco caught the falling body and lowered him the best he could without causing more damage than he already did. His knuckles were swollen, he didn't know Rhombulus physiology that well and he hoped what he caused wasn't permanent.

He looked at his sword, it lost it's teeth and instead it glimmered and seemingly phase bits of itself in and out, as if it glitch to stay whole. Marco touched the sword, as if to soothe it, the cold edge calming and it changed back to normal.

"Two out of three…not bad Muscles."

Marco felt the hair on his body stand, Hekapoo jumped out of her red portal, she looked all business and she even split her scissors, each a dagger in her hand. Marco looked at her warily, he put his sword away and pulled out his own scissors, she glared at him.

"Going to use my creation against me?"

"Hey, you gave it to me, H-Poo."

 **"DON'T CALL ME THAT."**

There was no usual playfulness or irritation, she was dead serious and he was too. He could see the hurt and he felt incredibly guilty.

"You lied to me again…you can't seem to stop, huh, _boy_." She emphasized the last part; Marco felt his lips tighten at the insult, "I should have told Moon…but you…I'm an idiot for letting you sway me…but not this time, I'm going to thrash you and put your ass on display for Moon, and you'll tell her everything. Even little Star's night time strolls."

"You can't!"

"Oh yeah?! And why not." She hissed.

"Because then I'll say you were in on it."

"Hah! Marco, you're a Dark Knight! Made by Eclipsa! Conspired with her and attack the Magical High Commission! You're human on Mewni. You have no rights here. No privilege, station or allies to fall back on. And most of all: you wont escape because I'm going to break those scissors of yours and your ass will stay in a dungeon until you rot!"

Hekapoo was engulfed in flames, Marco looked at her, the heated words and fiery visage made him even guiltier, he considered for a brief moment to just give in. But he felt his heartstrings tug, he could feel Star's fears and her doubts of him, what he could be hiding from her…it made him sick to think he would fail her. Even more sick he shouldn't, couldn't fail her. It felt wrong, but it was even more so that he had no choice but to do exactly that: protect Star no matter what.

Even at the cost of damnation by everyone he cared about.

"Hekapoo…I'm sorry I lied to you…and hurt you. Please. Please understand if it could have been any another way, I would have chosen it instead. I would." He said, even as Hekapoo glared at him, her flames slowly leveling, forming a crown above her horns.

"I trusted you, Marco. And you lied to me…and hurt me. How could you?" her voice cracking at the end, he looked away, unable to look her in the eye.

That was a mistake.

Marco yelped as the scissors swiped at him, he brought his own to block and parry Hekapoo's assault, before she made several clones and they swarmed him, punching and kicking him, spewing insults and yanking on his hair.

In the onslaught, he could see her wiping the corner of her eye.

He pushed and shoved them away before he spun and cut a portal and jumped through it.

He landed on his face, the clones stepped on him, one using the heel of her boot to force him facedown, the real one walked over, "Those portal made by those scissors…I control them. You have no hope of running if you're using those scissors of mine."

Marco panted, feeling their hands hold him down now, Hekapoo touched his sword, he couldn't help but smirk savagely.

She shrieked as the sword shocked her, the clones reacting as well and he rolled to his feet, he slashed open a portal and leapt through it. He landed in his room and he closed the portal, he knew Hekapoo would sense the next portal he opened.

Whatever he intended to do he needed to do it quickly, he pulled open his drawer and pulled out his phone, texting his family that he would be coming back for a visit but to keep it secret from his friends. He paused.

He texted Kelly next,

Kel I mite hav 2 hide out dnt tel any1 plz ill com 2 u

He typed quickly before leapt to the side as a red portal opened and Hekapoo landed in his room, his mobile landed on the floor and was introduced swiftly to her boot. Marco winced as it was crushed to pieces.

"Hiding? Not a good hiding spot." Hekapoo sneered, Marco slowly stood up.

"Hekapoo, please, listen for a sec—"

"No. No more talking, Marco. No more fighting. We're going to Moon and you'll explain yourself." She said in a forced calm voice.

Marco sadly shook his head, "I can't…Hekapoo if I go to Moon…it will be Armageddon. Nothing will be the same."

"It already is, MARCO." She hissed, "You betray the trust of this kingdom, the Queen and King, your station and the princess! You're nothing but a traitor!"

Marco winced at the lone word and felt the sword react badly to it.

"Can't I, we talk?"  
"No. Not without witnesses. If you want to talk, it's in front of everybody."

Marco took his scissors and cut open a portal, Hekapoo glowered at him, "Running."

"No. More like I should just go home. Spare everyone from chasing me and the grief."

"Then I'll just have to yank your ass from Earth and put it back on Mewni."

Marco looked at her, she was dead serious she would and would not stop until he was sitting in a cell. What she didn't know was Buttercup and Oblivion had found a way to deflect the scissors from cutting into the Earth's coordinates, similar to Saint Olga's shielding tower, Marco made one for Earth, the entire planet and the dimension in the event something bad happened. Never in his wildest dreams he would be using it for hiding from dimensional law enforcement.

When he did go back to Earth during his free time and made several wards all over the planet, places of great importance but also isolated from human contact as to not disturb the ward. He could activate it within his own room, a crystal suspended within his closet capable of blocking the scissors dimensional cut, by Omni's vision and even being spied or scry upon by dark magic of Eclipsa.

He was thankful for the teachings and it paid off, even the Queen of Darkness being so close could not get within his shielded mind. He doubted he was even susceptible to mind possession or persuasion; hypnosis was definitely out of the question.

He looked at the portal as Hekapoo got ready to close it, he pulled his sword out next with his free hand, he looked at the metal edge then to Hekapoo, she was ready to fight him.

 _Please…let this work!_

Marco threw his scissors out the window, surprising Hekapoo before he jumped after it, catching it in mid fall, although he was still gonna fall to his death. He tried to rip a portal open but found it failed.

"SHIT!"

 _Please sword, do it again!_

Marco flung the sword into the castle, sinking deep into it and he focused on it as hard as he could even as the air around him shrieked.

He yelled as if his insides turned outside and he was gripping on the sword for dear life. He gasped and he laughed nervously, "I…I can warp…to my sword…"

A portal sprang open and Hekapoo jumped out, both scissors at the ready, she brought them down on him.

He pulled the sword free and threw it again, Hekapoo watched as the boy suddenly glowed golden before he reappeared to his sword. She growled and opened another portal catching up to him.

Again Marco threw the sword and warped to it and again Hekapoo was too late and tore open another portal to try to catch him. Omni watched from below astound at what he was seeing, _that boy…that's quite a rare gift…to bend space and time to his will…dangerous even._

Marco gulped air mercifully as he managed to get to the ground without harm but he was definitely drained, he couldn't even stop Hekapoo from kicking him down and pointing her blades at him.

"I don't know how you're doing that…but this farce ends now!"

 _Do you know why we train you only after we run you ragged? When you can't even pay attention or stand up straight?_

 _Because your enemies don't care if you're ready, they will fight you when you are not, when you are sick, alone, injured, old or having fun. When you least expect it. That's why you must be able to fight no matter how bad your situation or condition is. Never forget that._

Marco growled and push himself up, he was on the breaking point, but he didn't care, his will was…IS STRONG. Hekapoo could see the light in his eyes change and she eyed him warily.

He tuck his sword away before taking his scissor and looked at it, his reflection of a tired but a determined boy, no man stared back. He pulled the scissor apart and took up a similar stance to Hekapoo, she wasn't pleased.

"You think you can fight like me?" she laughed mirthlessly.

Marco didn't humor her with a retort, instead he brought the scissor blades down in an X fashion in front of him, the blades extending and forming slender foot long blades, Hekapoo's eyes widen at the sight before she took to the defensive as he crashed into her.

He was fighting on fumes, the warp blade taking his toll on him, but he refused to lie down and be kicked. He shoved her back before spinning, the blades slashing through the air and skidding off brick and ground. Hekapoo dodged but he wasn't going to let up, chasing and even outright overtaking her, shoving her into the ground and ramming her with his body.

She roared in retaliation, striking back and jabbing furiously, his longer blades stopped him from jabbing or thrusting in tandem but it did give him reach and he spaced her well while she had to get close. Very close.

Marco brought the blade hard down, she slapped them away before spinning and kicking him into the wall, he quickly rebounded and front flip bringing the blades down as she sent a torrent of flames at him which he split perfectly.

He blocked several hits before she opened a portal before hopping through, Marco spun, hoping to stop her from appearing from behind but she instead came from below and he had his ass dropped into the courtroom again, but he recovered quickly.

"Where are you?!"

Marco put the scissor together ignoring the occupants; he caught Hekapoo trying to get the drop on him. She pushed but Marco was stubborn, using his body weight he shoved her and sent her flying into the pews, toppling them on her.

"That's enough Marco!"

He turned to see Moon, River, Star, Tom and Pony Head looking at him. He wiped the sweat on his brow before he tuck his scissors away.

"You've caused enough damage for one day…"

Marco looked around, panting, the entire courtroom was deserted, he looked at the queen questioningly, Eclipsa remained where she was before, "Moon is not about to get the knights involved in this mess, she wants to keep it…secret and contained."

"Shut your mouth Eclipsa!"

He looked at them, Star not meeting his eye while the rest looked at him disapprovingly. Tom walked forward, "Dude, you're making things worse for yourself, why don't you just—"

"Clearly, you're blind Tom, I was knighted against my will and attacked. I'm not sure how things are done here in Mewni, but I know I'm not resisting arrest if I am provoked and defending myself against unwarranted attacks!"

Tom merely sighed before rising to the air, fire rocketing out of his shoes, "Really making my girlfriend look bad for making you her royal squire."

He felt the jab but Marco refused to let it wound him further, "You're making a big mistake Tom."

"No. You are."

Marco scoffed before he looked over his carapace gloves, he glanced at Hekapoo's prone form before walking away from it. Tom shrugged at him before his eyes turned crimson and he threw a massive fireball at him, he ran for the wall, rebounding and jumping over it. Tom swerved away as Marco's fist nearly clocked him before he gave chase, Marco felt the demonic powers manifest on Tom and he readied himself.

 _Demons has all sorts of hellish powers and tricks, their magic naturally attuned to the Underworld and as such their powers reflect it darkly. Be careful they have a mastery of pyromancy and necromancy, something they all can do, as well as other nightmarish powers, if you ever fight one never challenge them in their own domain or at night, that's when they are most powerful. Their weakness varies especially when they are mixed breeds, but using the opposing nature to theirs is the best counter, salt, silver, holy water and weapons, angelic light and spells as well as mantras concerning their lineage can be effective._

 _What if I'm unarmed?_

 _Hah! Then run._

"TOM! MARCO STOP!"

Marco dodged a punch for his face, before he caught Tom's arm and threw him over his shoulder, however he stopped in midair, "Yeah, your karate gimmicks won't work on me."

Tom smug face was rendered ugly when Marco's fly kick caught him and sent him flying into the pews.

Marco panted, feeling his entire protest at being just conscious; Star's voice rang out, "Tom! Stop this Marco! Just stop already!"

He glanced at her through weary eyes, he took a knee, unable to remain standing. Moon and River slowly walked towards him, Eclipsa frowned before she cried, "MARCO!"

He sluggishly rolled as Tom exploded sending flaming debris everywhere, hellfire dancing around him, he was engrossed in his rage. Marco stood up, feeling his body as solid as a wet noodle, Tom exhaled like a bull, smoke spewing out before he charged at him horns first.

"Tom don'—!"

"RAAAAAA!"

Marco buckled as he grabbed Tom's horns then braced himself as he charged; he lost feeling to his feet as it dug into the floor, wooden planks being displaced as Tom refused to relent.

"I'm going to run you into the ground!"  
"Damnit Tom stop this! What the fuck do you think I'm doing this for?!"  
"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter! You hurt Star, I'm going to hurt you!"

Marco nearly buckled down completely, exasperated, he made his decision, the both of them did.

"Urgh, fine then! No hard feeling Tom…I'm gonna put you down!"

Marco could feel the painful burns of Tom's demonic breath on his exposed body, any longer and Tom would cook his insides. Lifting, Marco roared as he brought Tom up from the ground, he clawed and kicked at him before he pulled him down, chin first onto his knee.

Marco brought him swiftly down and the unmistaken sound of bones breaking echoed through the empty courtroom, Star cried out as Marco not only smashed Tom down on his knee, he broke both his horns before he dropped them on the ground from his helpless fingers. He wheezed for breath, his body shaking from all the exertions and battles he just undertook, he looked ready to drop to the floor and pass out from exhaustion.

Still…he dragged himself forward, Star looked at him with tears streaming down her face, Marco felt a pang of guilt…but he had to get away, especially how Moon was glaring at him.

"Oh no you don't Earth turd, no one and I mean NO ONE makes my bestie cry! Ya hear me!? And beating her boyfriend, whatever." Pony Head said in an afterthought, she charged head first, horn ready to impale the weaken Marco.

Blasts of colors flew but Marco made no attempts to dodge it, he grunted at each one. Pony Head savagely grinned at him, "Ohhh boy I waited to do this for a looong time!"

Marco gave her smoldering glare, "SAME HERE."

He caught her by the horn before he flung her into the wall, sticking to it by her horn, Pony Head stared at him upside down, "Ohhh…that's just rude, Earth turd."

He looked at Moon, River and Star then to Eclipsa, the queen could tell what he was thinking, "I'm not going give chase Marco, I need to keep an eye on Eclipsa…if you're not going to talk, I'm sure she will."

"I won't talk not even if you bribe me with a thousand Snooker bars." Eclipsa hissed.

Marco looked at them, looking around all that he had wrought between his fights with Hekapoo, Tom and Pony Head, he shook his head at the sight before he dragged himself to the hole in the wall, "I'm going back to Earth…"

"We will come for you, Marco. You will pay for what you have done here."

He paused.

"...with all due respect, Queen Moon…unwarranted assaults and knighting caused this. I'm innocent of starting any of this…I didn't want to fight Mina or your Magical High Commission…or fighting Tom…Pony Head, maybe a little… but honestly I didn't want _any_ of this…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, Star."

Marco limped away from them, Eclipsa caught his eye and he merely spat at her direction, she closed her eyes and painfully exhaled, "I'm sorry too Marco."

"Marco…"

He stopped and leaned against the wall, he looked back at Star as she walked forward, "…you're my squire…I'm responsible for you…why?"

Marco felt the guilt eating him inside; he wanted to scream it was to protect her. Like it has always been. There was no underhand scheme. Just his desire to shield her from trouble. But somehow she never saw it as that, as if he had something to gain from doing what he had done before like on Earth, _I wonder if I had talked to her honestly..._

"Just let me go, Star."

"Answer me, Marco! Quit running!"

He shook his head and turned to leave, without warning Star rose to the air, wings, arms and horns growing out. Eclipsa, Moon, River and Pony Head looked at her in surprise, Marco stopped and took his sword out, knowing what would come next.

"Ultra Sticky Gum Bomb!"

The glob of magic flew out of her wand and straight for Marco, he spun and with a loud 'twack' sent it flying and hitting River who was pasted to the wall.

"River!" "Papa!" "…oh shit." "Hmm, good arm Marco." "Daaayum."

Moon looked at the sword as did Star and Eclipsa, it was rare for magic from the wand to be so easily thwarted it usual left the weapon broken. Marco panted and tried to climb out of the hole, a look of unease and frustration marred Star's face.

"MARCO!" she finally cried unable to form any other words to stop him. The wand glowed and fired a concentrated beam like it did with Toffee causing her to gasp as she held on to control it.

Marco spun again and deflected the beam of raw magic harmlessly, his eyes wide at the sudden attack, "What are you trying to do, Star? Kill me?!" Marco demanded as Star fell back to the ground, her powers disappearing with a look of shock on her face.

Moon and Eclipsa stared at the sword with wide eyes, despite deflecting magic powerful enough to wound an immortal the blade shined with radiance and unblemished from harm.

"…where did you get that sword?"  
"Impossible…"

"Marco…"

Marco glanced at the sword, their eyes glued to it, Star began to walk forward and he tensed and scrabbled up the wall, his sword tucked away. Nearly floored, he didn't even have the strength to fight as something sticky grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back.

"Marco please!"

Eclipsa looked at Marco barely hanging on as Star pulled him, "Marco…please tell me who gave you that sword."

"Sir Buttercup did!"

Marco frozed as did everyone when the scribes from upstairs spoke, "Sir Buttercup is not a registered Butterfly Kingdom Knight."

"…"

"…"

"Is Sir Buttercup code for someone? Does it have to do something with that sword?"

Adrenaline pumping, Marco pulled the sword out and cleaved the magical binding making Star fall back as he pulled himself up, he panted for breath, Eclipsa looked at the sword curiously.

"Hmm, that sword is very peculiar, my hubby did tell me of a sword as powerful as the royal wand, but it couldn't exist because…" a strange look crossed her face, she pulled her glove off and bit her tainted finger drawing blood, Marco flinched and sheathe the sword again. Eclipsa smirked and Marco felt his eye twitch, as she fleck her blood at his direction forcing him to step back, his hand protective over the sword.

"Ahhh…even if I can't read your mind Marco…you confirmed my suspicion: that's the fabled sword isn't it? It had so many names: The Sword of Pendragon, the Brotherhood Blade. Hmph, they all pale in comparison to what my lover called it: the Sword made to End the Immortals' Suffering, the Traitor's Sword."

"That's the Traitor's Sword!?"  
"…why do you have it?"

Eclipsa looked at Marco with bright eyes, as if she was looking at something marvelous, he inched back before he disappeared from view. Star quickly gave chase, leaving Eclipsa and Moon alone.

"You know if you had that sword, I would have never gotten out."  
"…"

* * *

"Marco!" Star tried to use her wand again but Marco easily deflected it, she angrily fired more but even a tired Marco put up a great defense, sending them flying away. Marco didn't know where he was going but with Star hot on his tail he didn't have much time to think.

He crossed the courtyard, Star gasped at the sight of Omni and Rhombulus in their respective outcomes for fighting Marco as he ran for the gates, the knights there were still unconscious except for one.

Marco kept his groan of frustration as Higgs stood between him and freedom, she had a broadsword and she looked like she was itching to use it on him. She glanced at the knights, Sir Stabby among those who were beaten by Mina, "What on Mewni happen here!?"

"Nevermind! Higgs, I, Princess Star Butterfly, order you to stop Marco!"

 _"Star is really flexing her royalty right now…"  
_ _ **Ah, well, she wants to beat the stuffings out of you, doesn't she?**_

Marco shook his head angrily at the notion from Monster Arm as he drew his sword as Higgs, whether or not she was gonna fight Marco on Star's orders, came a running at him.

"What did you do nerd!"

"Higgs, I don't have time for this!"

If he wasn't so tired he would have put Higgs in her place in three moves, but they traded blows as if they were in some cliché anime fight. Sidestepping and parrying hits that he could have outright avoided, Marco gritted his teeth as he allowed Higgs to pass his guard, she smirked savagely only to see him not cowering from her advance, instead he got her with a kick to the gut before grabbing her tunic and head-butting her.

Her eyes swam with vivid watercolors as he ran for it, not waiting for her to give chase as Star did. However, the Mewman squire mustered up what little consciousness she had left,

"You bring shame on us squires, Marcooo…" Higgs feebly yelled as she slumped unconscious, a guilty Marco however heard her words.

Marco ran down to the peasant town at the foot of the castle, his lungs and legs were on fire but he pushed anyways as Star quickly caught up. He ducked as she tried to grab him and ran down an alley and at the turn he dived for a crevice, he remained motionless as Star zipped by, looking for him.

He waited for a minute before he ran his way back to the castle, he wanted to flee to the grove but with Star on his heels he needed to lose her. He pulled out his scissors and prepared to cut a rift to Earth,

"MARCO!"

He felt the groan mush into his mouth as Star tackled him into the dirt road and into a mud puddle. Marco wiped the muck from his eyes and rolled as Star tried to immobilize him with a Bear Trap Sofa Cushion, he flung mud to her face, adding color to her pale face and blonde hair as he slashed open a rift and crawled through.

"NO!"

Marco groaned as Star grabbed him and the two instead fell into her room, Marco quietly seethed at his inaccuracy. He pulled himself up but Star was quick and slapped the scissors out of his hand, it skitters on the floor and tapped against the drywall.

Marco sighed and picked himself up, he looked at Star, still muddy and definitely angry. He wasn't going anywhere until she got answers, he couldn't help but shake his head at the determination she had in her eyes.

"Marco…you caused so much trouble! Why did you do it! What happened to Mina?! You fought the Magical High Commission?! You beat up Tom, Pony Head and Higgs! Where did you get that sword? What did Eclipsa did to you? What have you done, Marco!? Answer me!"

Marco wiped mud off himself as he sat on the bed, getting it filthy, Star stiffen as Marco looked as if explaining himself would be tiresome. Star pressed him still as he looked more than reluctant to talk, "Marco…there's no one here…no one to listen in…just you and me…so just tell me why Marco."

Marco looked at Star for a moment, studying her before he spoke in an exhausted voice, as if his duels were less stressful than talking to her, "Star if I start, let me finish please." He could see the princess ready to retort, "I had to shut Mina up before she spilled the beans that we know Meteora and didn't tell anyone. Where I sent her…I don't know, I really don't. I just wanted her gone and the sword did the rest."

"And fighting the Commission?!"

"Are you blind Star? They attacked me first otherwise I would have never done so! All cause I didn't answer any of your mom's questions! Star, listen please, if I told them it was because of your party, everyone would have been incriminated: you, Tom, Pony Head, every noble and royalty's kid and me! Some of which were in the jury today! Rhombulus would have vouched for it and no matter how buddy-buddy you were with him, he is going to snitch on you! At that point no one would have trust anyone! They would all think that each one of them had a hand in hiding Meteora or supporting Eclipsa! That would have led to a Mewni Civil War!"

"You're over exaggerating Marco!"

"Really, Star? Does your mom even know why Eclipsa is dangerous? Or the identity of Meteora? You heard how your mom refers to her and it's not with familiarity or warmth, I spoke to your dad too and it isn't something they will accept as a truth about the Butterfly lineage. Star, I did what I did to keep the damage to a minimal, at the very least spare you and the rest of the royals from being distrusted to inherit the throne when the time comes. I…decided to shoulder the blame…better I take the blame than any of you whose future could be in jeopardy for one fun party."

Star looked at him silently for a moment.

"…you sound like a martyr, Marco." Star said quietly.

Marco sighed sadly, "Is that what you think I did it for? For pity? For sympathy? For attention? Star, if I didn't stop Mina, Eclipsa and the two of us are going to be in a cell and would be wrung for answers until we gave it. Your mom was dead serious, she didn't even care that I was your friend or a royal squire, she would make me talk."

"But I'm her daughter, Marco! Like I would be treated like that!" **  
****_Wait, why did she just segway us out of the way?_**

Marco paused at her words.

"Meteora is Eclipsa's daughter, she's like your grandaunt or something, Star. She's your family, but it doesn't seems to matter to your mother. They think she's a menace."

Star didn't take Marco's reply very well, "…where did you get that sword then, Marco. It's pretty nifty to cut and block my magic like that."

Marco touched the sword for a moment, a look of pride crossed his face and Star took notice of it, "Like I said, Sir Buttercup—"

"Isn't a real knight, the scribes said so themselves! Why are you hiding things from me, Marco? Like with Hekapoo now that sword of yours!"

Marco felt a tinge of annoyance at the accusation, he looked at the princess, "Sir Buttercup gave me this sword after I learned to be a Knight of the old Mewman standards. And what does it matter where I got this sword, Star? I'm your squire so I need to be armed to protect you."

"Oh so as your princess, I order you to tell me where you got that sword, Marco!" she hissed.

Marco frowned at the words, so clear that their prior relationship had little bearings now, "No, Star, I won't tell you."

"WHY?"

"I have a gut feeling you're going to find my teacher and wring answers out of him like Moon would have done to me."

Star flinched at the words, Marco didn't apply an edge to his words but it sure seemed like it to her. They looked at each other for a long time, her eyes drifting to his chest.

"…you said Eclipsa fixed you…is that why you're glowing Marco?"

He glanced at the center of his chest, the Roman numeral two glowed faintly, his crescent moon cheek marks glowed as well but not as radiant as he wielded the wand.

"Eclipsa didn't promise me magic…she did fix me with this charm she inscribed on my chest. The cheek marks, well, when I used your wand the first time they sorta just appeared. This is the second time I've seen it."

Silence again.

"…you fought Tom and Pony Head, would you have fought us as well?"

"I tried to reason with them, you saw, you heard. But they were so dead set in beating my face in, what could I have done? But no Star, I would have not fought them or you if they just let me be."

Star looked at Marco for a while, as if trying to find something wrong with what he had done. Marco tried to recuperate his strength, he needed to get back to Earth and activate the wards, only then he would be safe from the folly.

"Marco…" the words soft, but her emotion betrayed it.

He stood up suddenly, it felt wrong that Star doubted his integrity of his actions and intentions; she had to know, didn't she? The bloody curse had to tell her, right? If not, then he decided that words would speak louder than feelings that seemed so disconnected.

"Star, I want to make this clear so there is absolutely no doubt: what I did, I did to keep you safe, Star. You may not agree with it and maybe I should have taken a different route, but all the same, I did it not only as your squire but as your friend. You wanted to accomplish something and I whole-heartedly followed, you wanted to bridge peace between monsters and mewmans, I agreed and helped. Mina wanted to expose you and I as traitors to the kingdom and I decided that I would take the fall in your place. Star, what I have done, I've done before on Earth and it hasn't changed since I came to Mewni."

Marco laid his intentions bare for the princess, his best friend.

"You came back after Jackie dumped you and for thrills, Marco…and I can take care of myself…"

Marco felt the cold edge on her voice matching her words, Star looked even angrier at his apparent devotion to her.

"Do you doubt that I—"

"Oh Marco I doubt a lot of things right now. You are on the very top right now. All this talk about 'protecting' and 'keeping me safe'…do I look like some sort of damsel to you?"

"You definitely were when Mina came crashing in! I could feel your fears like a geyser!" Marco snapped, Star looked confused at his words, "You think I did all of this for some underhand scheme to get back on your good graces? You made me YOUR squire, I may not know what it all entails but I'm sure keeping my liege safe is part of the job requirement. And even if I wasn't your squire, Star, I would still do this because you are my best friend!"

Marco was out of breath, Star just stood there, staring at him. He couldn't take it anymore, no matter how much he pleaded Star was dead set on her interpretation of him, like he was some sort of bastardized White Knight in her eyes.

 ** _Clearly, you're a Dark Knight and a badass motherfucker at that.  
_** _No amount of ass kissing is going to stop this charm from exterminating you._

Fed up, Marco turned and walked towards his scissors, he felt the fury from the curse connection and he leapt aside as a

"NARWHAL BLAST!"

Punched a hole in the wall, Marco looked at it then back to Star, sadness etched on his face at how far she was willing to go. He slowly drew his sword, his heart racked with guilt as Star's wand pointed at him, tears streaming down both their faces.

"You're really doing this then, Star…"

"Marco…I can't just let you go…"

They looked at each other for a long time, trying to feel out the situation and each other's willingness to fight. He closed his eyes for a moment, wanting one last thing to be said.

"You are my best friend Star…I love you." Marco whispered, his sword heavy in his hands, but heavier was his own heart, the truth did not set him free from his pain. The Blood Moon Curse held him prisoner and the Goddess pulled on his string viciously.

Star looked at him, torn at his words and declaration of his feelings for her, however her wand did not lower.

Marco blocked the blast of magic and spun low, grabbing his scissors and ripping a rift. A magic lasso wrapped around his leg and he was spun around the room by Star's impressive mewman strength. He slashed it with his sword, landing and blocking more blasts before he ran for the rift.

He yelled when his scissors were smacked out of his hand, Star used the cut end of the lasso like a whip and took the scissors before leaping ahead of him, closing his portal.

Star made herself a magic blade from her wand, tucking the scissors on her belt, Marco grimace at the sight before leveling his sword. He looked at the razor edge, conflicted if he bash blades with the princess, eventually he would shatter the wand and hurt Star.

The royal wand wasn't indestructible; he had seen the wand destroyed before along with fragments like the star jewel. Buttercup and Oblivion told him that the sword _could_ be broken, but refrained from telling him how.

Marco took a defensive stance as Star rushed him with blinding speed, using his sword to block the slashes and strikes, making his sword perpendicular to Star's own. His heart hammered and blood rushed to his ears as he never attempted to lash out despite the many openings, taking a purely defensive play, hoping to tire out the princess and flee.

Star on the other hand had no desire to quit and continued to fight with the ferocity that Marco thought akin to a bear or a lion, she even attempted to bite him. The flurry of attacks from Star definitely wore Marco down, he gritted his teeth feeling the sting of cuts she managed to get him but all were shallow and would fade in time.

But time was running out, his eyes were getting blurry and arms and legs felt like lead weights, each move he made his muscles scream in agony, each breath made it seem he inhaled burning ash. He sputtered as a strike sent him crashing against Star's bedpost.

The princess lost in her furious rage that Marco just didn't give up stepped in and delivered a cut at the exhausted Marco. He feebly raise his sword to meet the glowing wand blade

"AAAAAaAAAAAAAAAaaaaRRrrgh!"

Marco yelled grasping his face, his sword coming up short as Star's blade managed to score him as he fell to the side, the pain vivid and powerful.

Hearing Marco yell out in pain, the battle haze lifted and Star stared at her floored best friend. She blinked at the sight before the realization came crashing back in clarity for the princess, in horror Star watched as blood ran through Marco's fingers.

He looked at her and she felt her heart wither at the sight of it: there was no hate, no malice, no anger.

Just shock, hurt and disbelief.

Struck down by his best friend.

Star felt the color leave her face and hearts; she looked at her sword's edge, a thin trail of blood colored it. She promptly dropped it, hands shaking. The words that fell from her mouth were small and unsure,

"Marco, I'm…" she reached out to him but he got to his feet drunkenly, he wiped the blood from his face, a diagonal cut scarred his left eye. He took his sword and lifted it up, Star stared at him, unsure…would he?

Would he do the same to her?

He closed his eyes, looking as if he was asking for something and brought the sword down.

Star watched as the sword burst golden and ripped a portal to Earth, he panted before limping towards it, she could only watch him…he paused, he looked at Star one last time, she could see his mouth moved but the words never reached her and he walked through.

And she sat there staring where her best friend had disappeared to.

* * *

Eclipsa sighed as she looked at her fingernails, it was a nasty shade of dark magic contamination, she shrugged and turned back to her host.

Moon was atop many broken wooden furniture, River was unconscious, Pony Head too, Tom and Hekapoo were still down from Marco's doing.

"Hmph, not what I wanted but I think it's still all according to 'keikaku'. That means 'plan' by the way."

Eclipsa cheerfully walked towards the hole in the tower, Moon feebly spoke out, "What…plan…?"

The Queen of Darkness stopped and looked at Moon, she gave her a capital thrashing; she didn't even need to go into her Butterfly form to put the queen in her place.

"I was hoping Star would go nuclear during the trial and we would escape my little trial, you know she was quite furious at the verdict. I'm a little disappointed Star didn't run away with me…the experiments I could have done to her…then later you."

A sinister smile spread across Eclipsa's face, Moon pushed herself up, horrified at the queen.

"She's…your granddaughter…your family…"

"Mhmmm, yes, I suppose. That's what makes it so much _better_ ~"

Eclipsa laughed seeing Moon's face.

"But now I found myself a better specimen…a better pawn…one Marco Diaz, ooh how I thought I never seen the day come! A male Butterfly, hmm, maybe not, but a male compatible to the Butterfly lineage magic, the things I could do!" Eclipsa eyed Moon sinisterly, "Using myself and female Butterflys…would take too long…but Marco? Well, let's say we could see some _interesting_ results so much sooner!"

"...y-you monster…"

Eclipsa smiled and bowed to the queen at the insult taken as a compliment, "Aah, Moon, you don't know what you're missing. But I can't tarry any longer, I don't want to keep Meteora waiting or she might come crashing in…she desperately wanted to meet you know? And her niece too…put you two on pikes on your very own castle! The tyke! Ah well, there will be plenty of time for that later. I'm sure you'll be busy…"

Eclipsa jet herself up to the hole in the tower, she shot Moon a condescending smile, "I can't wait to see this Mewni Civil War of yours."

Moon bit down, nearly cracking her teeth as the Queen of Darkness giggled at the chaos she made, everything…planned from the beginning.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

And so comes my fanfic to a close, I didn't want to keep writing another fic that I didn't finish so I'm glad this is complete.  
Ah, if I did continue to fic it would be in a new fanfic, so keep an eye out my avid readers.

I was contemplating how dark I was going to write this fanfic, because Eclipsa seems to me like Princess Bubblegum, everyone [fans] adores her but then she has too much potential to do terrible things [and seems to get away scot free, that's how I see PB anyways, KARMA HOUDINI BITCH] that and it seems to me like Meteora was an experiment especially how she goes on about all knowledge is good knowledge. Tragic.

Anyways, a sequel to this fanfic will depend greatly on the rest of Season 3 and so far, it's not pretty. I go to iFunny a lot, so I get feedback and totes amount of unchained emotions there which fueled the first 7 chapters. Yeah, I was getting into mad arguments there. So, depending how the rest of the season, this fanfic could rise once again from the ashes of burned down ships and characters, whichever gives me the most pyres.

And if I'm not too busy playing Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade 2.

That said, thank you all, my avid readers, I hope I made a fanfic worth your time and if you want to see more how things development, well pray that Daron Nefcy doesn't scare off her fans.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	9. Funny

.

 **Chapter 8**

It's just a [future] prank bro.

 **XxXxXxXxX**

* * *

"It was that boy a—AHHHH!"

Marco winced, he was too late, but the sword spun for the mewman, it screamed as if everything around it was being ripped apart, Mina readied herself against the blade.

 _Damnit! DAMNIT! MINA WHY YOU CRAZY COOT! JUST GO AWAY!_

The sword slammed into the wall.  
And Mina was nowhere to be seen.

Where she stood was now a red portal on the floor.

"Whew! Came in the nick of time, eh pops?"

Everyone froze as a young woman stood next to the portal, twirling a pair of dimensional scissors on her finger. She stood at Marco's height, his complexion, his hoodie with dark navy jeans and knee high boots, two horns grew out of her head and a flame rest between them. She grinned showing yaeba, her playful orange eyes glimmered at them as she brushed her bushy brown hair aside.

"Pops?" Marco questioned.

The girl grinned before taking the scissors and splitting it, Hekapoo tensed as the girl made the scissor blades extend and she stood next to Marco.

"Ain't really fair when you fight my dad all by himself! Shame on you! And you!" she hissed.

Marco stared at the girl as did everyone.

"Dad? Fight me? What do you mean?"

"C'mon pops you're smart, all these 'do-gooders' are gonna lick you! Mom too!"

Everyone followed the girl's line of sight and it landed on Hekapoo, who looked at everyone before she turned crimson and pointed a finger at the girl, "I ain't your mother!"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Suuure, haven't heard that line before."

"Who are _you_?"

The girl sighed sheathing her weapons away, jutting a hip and putting her hands on it, "Name's Hestia Diaz and by the looks of it I might need back up."

Hestia pulled out a flip phone from her pocket and dialed in some numbers, Moon tried to control the situation

"Now listen here young lady—!"

but Hestia merely held up a finger, halting Moon and impressing everyone including Hekapoo she had the gall to stop the queen in mid-tirade.

"Uh huh, yeah, hey listen I'm gonna need all of you to come here, dad is a mean pickle."

Moon's eye twitched when more portals came to life behind Marco and Hestia, their respective owners walking out:

 **[These three are not my own creation but they are sooo popular I can't just help but add them! Credit due to the original artists, please support them and their works!]**

"Gosh, we're fighting Mom…" Elizabeth groaned. **[Star Butterfly AU]**  
"Am I grounded after we win?" Aurora whispered. **[Star Butterfly AU]**  
"…uh, Elizabeth dragged me into this, Mom!" Cressida 'Cressie' cried. **[Star Butterfly AU]**

 **[These three are not my own creation but they are sooo popular I can't just help but add them! Credit due to the original artists, please support them and their works!]**

"Oh, hi Mom!" waved Diana 'Luna/Artemis' Diaz, she stood shortest amongst the girls, she wore a vibrant gothic lolita attire, freckles on her pale complexion, bright brown eyes and dark teal hair done in a bun, a teacup as her wand. **[Eclipsa Butterfly AU where she takes Star's place in the timeline, daughter to Star Butterfly]**

"Maybe I should have stayed home." groaned Nova Diaz, she was of Marco's height, wore a standard Mewman royal blue dress, her long silver hair tied in a ponytail and her deep blue eyes narrowed at the sight of them all, her hand on her wand turned flintlock rifle. **[Moon Butterfly AU where she takes Star's place in the timeline, daughter to Eclipsa Butterfly]**

"Yes, Mom isn't here!" cheered Zinnia, she wore a long pink and white sweater like her mother and a sword on her back, her hair matched Kelly's except it was brown like her eyes, wore knee high stripped red sock with white sneakers. **[Kelly]**

"Definitely not on Earth anymore, wow!" Summer Thomas-Diaz exclaimed, she wore a white and red jersey with black biker shorts, white long socks with red running shoes, her eyes were like her mothers except her hair was her father's with a sea foam streak tied in a neat ponytail. **[Jackie Lynn Thomas]**

"Hey, you said mom was here!" yelled Linde Diaz, she was the tallest among the sisters with her father's hair but her mother's eyes, she wore an uniform similar to Mina when she was till sane, a spiked mace was in her hands. **[Mina Loveberry]**

"Oh, so Mom is my Dad here…awkward." Lilith Lucitor Diaz looked away, she had torn up jeans, a tank top saying 'BloodBath Brothers' with a stripped loose tie, biker boots with spikes, she had pale olive skin, pointed ears and wild pink hair, horns visible. **[Tammy Lucitor gender bend Tom Lucitor]**

"Cool, we're back on Mewni!" joked Lulu 'Lulz' Diaz, she wore an oversized pink hoodie which has seen better days as several parts had mismatch color patches, she wore a red blouse and a yellow-green skirt underneath it. She looked almost like her mother including her height. **[Janna Ordonia]**

"Oh crap it's the fuzz! And mom too!" cried Clover Diaz, she had her mother's pink mane, light blue skin and starry eyes and wore teal top, a denim skirt and black suspenders and brown cowgirl boots. **[Pony Head AU where she is a Mewman race with a unicorn]**

"Ah! It's Queen Star! Or is it Princess Star? Gah, timeline jumping is so confusing!" ranted Starry Diaz, she wore a red glasses and had braces, she wore a near identical attire and appearance to Star when she first came to Earth, upon close inspection her hair was dyed blonde and wore blue contacts. **[StarFan13]**

"Oh. Hi Dad." greeted Zhen Wong Diaz, she had her mother's complexion and hair, her eyes were dark brown and she stood on average height as her fellow sisters, she wore a red and gold Chinese dress on red heels, a pair of knives strapped to her thigh. **[Brittney Wong]**

"Oh man, I fought Aunty Star, Moon and Eclipsa this morning already!" whined Sparrow, she looked very much like her mother minus the freckles and orange hair, which she had her father's instead and in twin tails , she was dressed in female trousers, a red tunic and a sword on her hip. **[Higgs]**

"I smell food...you! Give me your Snookers bar!" Choco 'Coco' Diaz demanded from Eclipsa, who immediately backed away. She stood second shortest with feline traits, her eyes baby blue, her messy brown hair barely hiding her snow white neko ears and her matching tail that whipped restlessly as she wore what looked like a Cafe Neko Maid attire. **[Baby AU where she is literally a neko, basically a girl with just a cat tail, ears, eyes and disposition.]**

"Golly, Dad, what did you do this time?" asked Willowfrost Diaz, she folded her arms matching her father's amount, she wore a royal purple dress and her blonde hair hung to her shoulders, her brown eyes peering at the crowd, her nose shorter than her mother's. **[Princess Arms]**

"..." Morgana Diaz smiled and bowed, she stood at average height and wore a French Mime attire, she wore a red handkerchief on her wrist, her hair powdered white as was her face and drawn were teardrops. **[Mime Girl]**

"I thought we weren't allowed back here?" questioned Xaverie Diaz, she looked like a clone of her mother except she had Marco's hair color and complexion, she wore casual Mewman clothes and sported a wicked looking gauntlet. **[Foolduke]**

"Why did you even bring me here?! I'm late to practice!" cried Sinclair Diaz, she wore the Echo Creek cheerleader uniform but in red and gold colors, she looked very much like her mother except she had Marco's complexion and cute mole, a red hoodie was tied to her waist. **[Chantal]**

"Why do you always wear the hoodie around your waist, Sinclair? Trying to cover your butt?" Lulu giggled, she gave her an exasperated look, "Mom was insulted once about it and I feel like I would too." she unintentionally made eye contact with Star.

Raven Bloomgren Diaz merely glared at them, she wore fishnet stockings matching her fishnet arm sleeves, a black choker, a black and red checkered top with a plaid skirt and black boots, her heavily dyed hot pink hair had streaks of her natural hair color brown with matching eyes. **[Ingrid Bloomgren]**

"Marco..."  
"Dude..."  
"That's a lot of kids."  
"Who did you fuck?!"  
"Who _didn't_ he fuck!?"

* * *

Just like the title, I wrote this little chapter as a means to unwind and just laugh how stupid we as fans can get with our ships and head canons, further splitting us up and making us toxic to one another. So this chapter is just a funny I made, really not really part of the fanfic just something I thought would have been funny to have if I decided to go this route where Marco's kids were the ones who fought the Magical High Commission, Tom, Pony Head, Higgs and whoever I decided to throw in when writing.

This was one scenario I considered though then I said, 'Nah, that would be stupid.'  
Another was if Star straight up bone rush Marco, beating him to a pulp, then making him a vengeful man.  
One I couldn't help but find impossible to write was the Blood Moon Goddess saving Marco. It was strange cause I couldn't stop laughing as I drafted it.

So yeah, this chapter was for shits and giggles, not really a point to it but just wanted to let loose some nervous energy, cause you know...the _**FCC**_ bent over the Internet then fucked it **D R Y** **[NON-CONSENSUAL]**. Meaning we could kiss my sequel good bye along with any aspiring fanfic writers and artists who just want the world to be great place to live in.

*Whew* Alright, I'm done for the day. I bid you my avid readers a good day and just spread the word. For everyone's sake.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	10. EPILOGUE

.

 **EPILOGUE**

* * *

Eclipsa's Escape and Marco's Departure sent quakes throughout Mewni, those who widely feared a Dark Knight's wrath and those who could foggily remember Eclipsa's deeds were in hysteria.

Queen Moon Butterfly tries to keep Mewni from complete chaos, in varying success only Pigeon, Johansen, Cloud and Lucitor Kingdoms manages to stave off total mass hysteria and paranoia. Queen Moon and the Butterfly Kingdom is held responsible for allowing Eclipsa's escape and demanded answers of Meteora Monster-Butterfly, the first hybrid monster-mewman.

A Mewni wide warrant is issued for one Dark Knight Marco Diaz. Not specifying if he is to be brought to justice or slain where he stands.

The Traitor Sword garners the attention of many kingdoms, however interests dwindles when told by Queen Moon Butterfly, Princess Star Butterfly, King River Johansen-Butterfly, Prince Tom Lucitor and Princess Pony Head states it is in the possession of the Dark Knight Marco who fled to Earth.

Attempts to enter into Earth had proved impossible: Hekapoo could not rift rip into Earth's dimension, Omnitraxus Prime could not scry it nor could Star Butterfly open a path to it even with her unique Butterfly Portals. Even with Marco Diaz's Dimensional Scissors only revealed a portal stating a '404 NOT FOUND' message, whatever that meant.

Fear, paranoia and hysteria reached an all time high when citizens began to start missing, prompting many kingdoms to barricade and exercising strict border control. Distrust between kingdoms began to settle in, further dividing and splitting the fellow mewman kingdoms.

The monsters fared no better, their treatment grew crueler and crueler everyday, they quickly ran to monster tolerant kingdoms but even then they filled to the brim forcing the reluctant leaders to turn them away.

But then soon came back, instead of hands of beggars, it was fists of brigands, bandits, killers.

However, despite the ongoing chaos and disorder, no one on Mewni ever saw Eclipsa or Meteora…

* * *

Star Butterfly looked out her window, her kingdom had erected more walls and trained more knights; a spot of orange hair walked the ramparts. She turned away and looked over her room: a mess. All around littered her clothes, studies and whatnot; normally her mother would be here and scold her. Star would be lucky to even see her mother once in a week, the Queen made diplomatic trips one after the other for weeks at a time, only stopping because her husband refused to see his wife work herself to death. Star insisted on going herself but her parents refused, stating not only experience thwart her but her studies was not even completed.

Tutors came to teach her, drilling her from sun up to sun down five times a week leaving her the weekends to rest her aching brain.

Star never felt so powerless, even with her royal wand, she could not remedy the problems that besiege Mewni or her personal ones. Marco had some way learned to ward his entire dimension, something unheard of, but he succeeded. Her plans for a better monster-mewman relation died the day Eclipsa and Marco fled, their actions forcing the mewman kingdoms to be fearful and hostile. The latter she felt horrible for blaming, the former however…Eclipsa seemed so nice, so comforting, so much like her…but when her mother came to find her, all torn up…her father passing out from the verbal vitriol that Eclipsa rained on him, Pony Head passed out too from her killing intent.

She realized that her idol fooled her.  
And her best friend had left her.

Star closed her eyes and relived the vivid days after the two left…

For days Star didn't leave her room, only when Tom's messenger came did she leave to see him. Marco thrashed him pretty badly, breaking his jaw and both his horns left him almost catatonic and only woke up recently hoping there was going to be a sleeping Star by his bedside.

She was not there.

Still he understood that she was shook up by all that happened. Star felt guilty for not seeing him sooner, which she kept silently to herself, and kissed him on the cheek as an apology.

Like writhing man size pythons in her belly, Star shoved Tom away in time as she puked all over the hospital floor, her stomach in righteous rebellion with her. Tom yelped as he was nearly sent off the bed as Star wretch again and again, nearly passing and tumbling on her own puke. Nurses and an elderly doctor came in later and tried to diagnose her on her ailment, but found she was in the picture of health.

"Why puke on the floor though? May haps you puke out an under cooked corn kernel?"

"Negative ghost rider, I searched that puke puddle, everything is fully cooked but under digested by the princess." The nurse saluted, getting puke on herself and anyone close to her.

"Nurse Moldilocks you are the heart of this hospital…but why are you so weird, my dear?"

Star was shaken at suddenly losing her lunch; Tom gave her a meaningful look from his mummified face and held her hand.

Star felt the ungodly fury of a thousand stings score her hand and she wrestle Tom's finger from hers, eyes widen at the sight of palm and fingers painfully red. The doctor and the nurse examined it, they checked on the prince and found he was healthy too sans his injuries.

"But we danced before! We've kissed! Nothing like this happened before!"

"…"

"Princess, you should avoid any, um, skin-to-skin contact. Maybe it's the atmosphere here or the medication we prescribed to the prince is affecting you negatively."

Unsure and reeling from the unexplained bouts of ailments, Star went back home sick to her stomach, only feeling better when she managed to feed herself. Still stuffing her face as she reached her room she was greeted with moonlight drifting into her room, she froze.

Red moonlight.

She felt a massive pull on her body and she entered and slammed the door shut, still transfixed by the moonlight. Star's buttered corncob fell from her numb fingertips as the moonlight began to bend and condense, her breathing turned rapid as the moonbeams turned itself into a beautiful red head, red eye and red garb woman.

Her face contorted coldly at the sight of her and she walked up to her as if sizing her up before pulling on her garb, a lone red string, tugging it before she weaved it back.

"Do you know who I am…Star Butterfly?"

Star couldn't even shake her head or speak.

The woman sneered at her, "Positively frighten…I get it, but you can breath now, princess."

As if on cue, Star gasped and coughed as air flooded back into her lungs, the woman glared at her and threw herself on the bed and quietly judged Star as she recollect her composure.

"W-who are you?"

"…I don't even think you are worthy of the privilege."

Star frowned at the cold answer, the woman merely pointed at the window then back to herself.

"Doesn't that moon look familiar to you?"

Star peered up and saw the Blood Moon shining from above; she looked at the woman for a moment.

"Are you…some messenger?"

The woman laughed mirthlessly.

"Messenger? I need not messengers. I take great pride in my work and gifts…although it seems it isn't appreciated as of late…Princess Star Butterfly, I am the Blood Moon Goddess."

Star buckled and promptly bowed to the goddess, she scoffed at the gesture, "…your reverence…to a stump and myself…makes me sick."

"W-why—?" Star started, questions a top of questions.

"While I would love to see you root around the castle and go on and on about finding out what's wrong with you…I think I will deprive you of such tiresome chores and stab you with the truth instead: you're the culprit."

Star stared at the woman for a second.

"W-what do you mean? I'm the culprit? What did I do?"

The woman stood up in full height, a smile across her face for the first time since she got in front of the princess, "Ah, it seemed Marco never told you…good, I get to savor your terror and revelation, pity he couldn't tell you…you would have just ignored it, sometimes my powers are just _sooo_ inconvenient."

"Tell me? Tell me what?"

"Oh, if he told you about myself you would just think he was off his rocker, but if I present myself to you…well, that's different isn't? Notice anything different lately?"

Star looked at her, unsure what could she mean but the goddess gave her a Cheshire cat like smile, still the princess couldn't connect the dots.

"Hmph, I guess you're not too quick on the uptake are you? Ah well, maybe you should start sucking face with Tom again and maybe you'll understand."

Star froze.

The goddess grinned widely and walked around the frozen princess,

"Yesss…you can't touch Tom anymore…he can't touch you either…even looking at him makes you queasy, doesn't it?" jabbed the goddess.

"I…Marco…what about…?" Star fumbled with her words, the Blood Moon Goddess merely glared at her, Star calmed herself and breathed, "I'm feeling like this…because of the Blood Moon Ball? How about Marco? Doesn't he feel sick when he hangs out with Kelly? Or Jackie?"

"Normally, both of you going your separate ways would cause some sort of emotional backlash however I did try to steer you two back together but it was all for naught, for you were so far gone...denial of your feelings…burying it with affection of another…Marco paid the price of it already and he since wised up to it."

Star looked at the goddess incredulously at the words, the goddess shrugged as if it meant little to her as she stopped in front of the princess, who had thoughts racing of Marco and Kelly together along with any females he was in contact with.

"Oh believe me, princess…he felt it, oh gods and goddesses did he felt that succulent pain…but unlike you who buried the emotion with all sorts of fuddy-duddy, Marco has come to terms with it. Marco _was_ so engrossed in his pain and unrequited love with you that he was at least spared from _this_ severity of punishment…but you? Oh you, you, you~! So callous to him, to make him a servant! To make him beneath you! Oh Star Butterfly you are a _real_ piece of work! Normally you would just be sick or unwell on contact with Tom or any suitor, but your rampant dissatisfaction with Marco, your alienating of him, of belittling his genuine attempts to keep you safe and happy after he vowed those vows? I do not pity you.

"I pity Marco Diaz. I regret putting him on a path of unbinding. I could unbind you two from this moment forth, you may be willing, but he is not anymore. He vows to break the binding so you may not be _discomforted_ or _sicken_ by Tom's touch…when I told him I fully expected him to be receptive to the punishment instead he was disgusted. He told me I went too far, but when I told him that your reaction was proportional to your mistreatment of him, he understood."

"Marco knows?" Star whispered.

"Oh, when he got back to Earth I told him what would befall you, the scar you left him…the emotional backlash even frighten me." the goddess shivered before looking at Star again, "I never beheld someone like you before princess, I had many unsavory, unhappy and unappreciative customers before, I grew used to it, jaded even. But never in my time immemorial that I had seen a lover so wretched and unfeeling that she would willingly smite her soul mate, and believe me, princess…I've seen many upset lovers from my _own_ doing."

Star stood rooted at the spot at the words.

"I—Marco, we…but I only—!" Star cried only to be shut down by the goddess nearly in deafening screams.

"Only? Only what princess? Only cut his eye? ONLY?! You proved to me, but most especially to Marco that you don't care! YOU DON'T AND DIDN'T! I've watched ancient mewmans court and they were more loving than you! Disgusting, barbaric and ratchet plus filthy to say the least, ew, but never had one lover blessed by my moonlight every had the thought cross their minds to willingly maim their soul mate! NOT! ONCE! Even when times were rough for the lovers, they were kind, they loved and were understanding of each other's pain and predicament. The very thought of raising one's hand to willingly harm the other is so utterly repulsive and outlandish! It's—unheard of!"

The goddess leveled with her, Star felt so small in her presence.

"UNTIL NOW. Congratulations Star Butterfly, daughter of Moon Butterfly and River Johansen, you are the first. You have made your mark in history. "

Star felt her dry mouth move but no words spilled out, the goddess glared at her hatefully, "You don't deserve Marco. And he doesn't deserve you."

Before she could even speak out, apologize or anything on her behalf, Star found herself alone in her room, the goddess had simply left. Shaking, Star sat on her bed, putting her hands on her face and cried.

* * *

Marco trudged his way back into Echo Creek having land just outside of it and dragged himself back to his home. He was thankful that no one could readily recognize him due to his physique and longer hair, last thing he needed was people asking why he was shirtless, bleeding and carrying a sword in public.

He reached his house hours later and snuck in, he pulled himself up stairs and tiredly reached into his closet and activated the crystal ward before undressing and going to the bathroom and rinsing himself. He was so close to passing out…so close…to just fall on the bed and sleep until he woke again…but his wounds and eye...

After his shower and dressing his eye, he waited for his parents in the living room only to fall asleep on the couch.

He awoke to his parents staring at him worried, groceries by the table, it was already night. Marco made up some bullshit story about getting Mewni out of his system and that his injuries were just adventures he had while he was there. His parents didn't seem to buy it too much but they were happier he was home so they didn't want to question it at the moment.

Taking a day to sleep off his fatigue, he realized the school term was nearly over, Marco quickly got a hold of Principal Skeeves, avoiding his friends in the process. It was hard to bargain with the man, suddenly against being bribed but Marco pleaded his case well and a bag of loot did leverage his case. In the end the principal relented but advised Marco to take this rare chance seriously.

He was given two weeks to catch up with his schoolmates by upset teachers but he was cooperative and didn't give them problems during his summer classes, performing admirably until they brought him before the cumulative test by the Echo Creek board of education. It was an intense process spending hours in front of three board members while he was being tested, sometimes citing his experience other times just taking stacks of tests.

He was worried that the members would not give him any chance to rectify his mistake but when they announced they would agree so long as he was diligent in his schoolwork they saw no problems admitting him back. Marco kept his victorious cheers until he left the room and ran to his parents who were desperate to hear his triumph.

He went back to school as if nothing really happened, deciding to keep what he did in Mewni a minimum and ambiguous. Marco knew that would attract attention so decided to layer his home against invasion: domestic, international or dimensional. Marco warded his house, his room and lastly his closet where the crystal sat, the books that Buttercup had left him had really come in handy.

As he suspected his friends, Alfonzo and Ferguson tried to get him to spill the beans but he smoothly sidestep or gave the barest of information. Next came Janna and StarFan13 stating she couldn't contact Star but Marco merely shrugged. Jackie came last, asking how he was doing, he answered truthfully that he was just happy to be back home and into school with everyone.

They asked and asked about his trip but he kept them in the dark, just like his parents and anyone who would rat him out to Star or anyone on Mewni. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but he feared they would be targeted and used as leverage against him. Soon, the talks dwindled and stopped and it was as if Marco never really left, things had gone back to normal.

Until Janna cornered him.

"Alright Marco spill it, what happened? I can't contact Star or even get a hold of anyone outside of Earth! What's going on!"

"I told you, I don't know."

"Marco, don't make me make you talk."

He sighed and gave her a strange look, "Or what Janna?"

She glared at him seemingly growing a backbone, his weak persona gone.

"Last chance."

"Just fucking do it, Janna, you're wasting my time and I have karate practice."

Janna gritted her teeth,

"CHICKEN BUTT."

Marco narrowed his eyes at her.  
Janna blinked.

"What the-?"  
"Neat trick. Mine turn: little sneak."

Janna felt as if her entire body seizes up and Marco got dangerously close. There wasn't hesitation or weakness in his eyes, just grit.

"Yeah, your little tricks don't work on me anymore, Janna. I picked up a lot of things in Mewni, you wouldn't believe…and I think I'll be paying you back for all the neat things you've done to me."

Marco could see absolute terror in Janna's feeble eyes, he didn't want to admit it but it felt _good_ to be in power of a situation. He quickly squash the satisfaction he felt, he wasn't opposed to using it but he didn't want to abuse it either, a fine line to walk but he was fine with that. He wasn't power hungry or gained any pleasure from controlling and manipulating others like some people he knew.

 ** _Hey, sometimes being in control is a good thing, sometimes only by flexing your strength you can avoid getting into a fight or scaring off potential foes. You gotta show that you aren't someone to be fucked with or you'll be fucked with._**

 _"That just invites unnecessary fights."_

 ** _Marco you are the toughest bitch in Echo Creek, you're gonna be fighting up and coming dumbasses regardless. Get used to putting them in their place._**

Marco mentally shrugged and gave the terrified Janna a feral smile, "I don't want to have this conversation again, Janna. Understand."

Janna stared at him mutely. He gave a low dark chuckle.

"Of course you do."

Marco walked away as Janna slowly felt herself thaw out of Marco's grasp, she breathed heavily, unable to shake herself out of her nerves. She bit her lip and looked at the direction the former 'Safe Kid' walked away to,

"Holy shit…that was hot~"

Janna felt her breath catch as she thought of ways to push Marco's buttons.

* * *

However not matter how Marco felt he couldn't stay away from Mewni forever, especially after a visit from a goddess and he took his sword and ripped a rift to the grove. He made sure to dress like a mewman, wearing his squire fatigues, landing on tough grass and soil. Marco saw the new walls erected and the many knights that man it, he glanced at the faraway lands and saw they also did the same in the distance.

As if his sudden appearance was expected, the squire turned Dark Knight saw two familiar faces coming to greet him from the tree's shadows.

"Buttercup! Oblivion!"

"Ah, Marco, good to see you."  
"Brother, how have you been?"

Marco stood in front of the two, his face fell when he got a good look at the lizard who chuckled at the apparent black eye he sported and roughed up clothes, "Sucker punch and tossed around in the market place this morning, ah, reminds me of the 'better' times of my life."

Suddenly feeling like a child, Marco hung his head in shame, "I'm…so sorry, what Mewni must be going through right now…what you two have to endure…it's all my fault…"

Buttercup waved his hand, Oblivion looked at him, "Don't be Marco, I've got a foggy feeling Eclipsa's escape was planned well before you or your parents were even thoughts. She was to escape eventually, darn memory magic. What matters now is that you're here and alive, that was some ruckus though, we heard it from all the way over here."

The lizard chuckle, the ghost spoke, "We heard what transpired, don't make that face, lad: we are not angry or going to scold you. The time we spent with you and teaching you…we know you aren't reckless and from what we heard you reacted admirably. What you did is what we would have done too."

"…so you heard what Eclipsa done to me then?"

"Yes, she made you a Dark Knight. Marco, lad, do you know what rank I held as well as my brothers and sisters held during my time?"

Marco nodded his head, "You were a 'lowly knight'."  
The ghost smiled, as did Buttercup.

"Yes, Knight. But to be specific: Dark Knight. My full title is Dark Knight Oblivion Pendragon. My fellows in the Brotherhood also held rank of Dark Knight and were celebrated for it."

Marco was speechless at the revelation.

"However, the historians later omitted the 'dark' and just called them knights, paladins or paragons. Sneaky." Buttercup muttered.

"You see Marco, the title 'Dark Knight' back then meant someone who was more a warrior than a scholar, that were the 'Paladins' who were both scholarly and warrior but served more in the government only asked to fight when besieged. Dark Knight meant a knight who could fight before the first light of dawn to the start of darkness of dusk, we were trained to fight for prolonged periods of time, hence why we're 'dark' because we rarely showed up during the day when the court or government was practiced. Also when we did hold court or office it was at night because we spent all day spilling blood in the battlefield.

"Our armor went from shiny to tarnish quickly so we began to fit the aesthetic so well we just adopted it. However our appearance and reputation got us in trouble often, when something terrible happened we would be the culprits…allegedly."

"So—"

"Yes, but _sometimes_ we did do it. Mewman women back then just want to bed the finest stallions and we could go for hours."

"…you're telling things I don't need to know."

"Marco. When you were inducted you are honor bound to keep the tradition alive."

Marco didn't know if he should be proud or aghast at the ghost's serious face.

"Er, regardless Marco, you came here for a reason, well let's hear it lad."

"Well, I'm here to continue my tutelage, I still have so much to learn, especially since I know my teacher is a Dark Knight…it's sort of fitting, actually."

The ghost barked with laughter, Buttercup just shook his head, "While I agree you should still be taught…I'm sorry to say it won't be from us."

Marco was silent at the answer; they looked at him with apologetic faces. Trying not to feel betrayed or hurt, he asked calmly, "Why ever not?"

"While we do agree you acted with the best intentions and judgments, Mewni isn't a safe place to teach you; for now."

"So let's go somewhere else."

The ghost shook his head as did Buttercup, "I can't stray too far from my resting place for too long."

"I don't want to leave my grove, too much precious things here and Honeysuckle would be upset with me and you if we are gone."

"…"

Buttercup and Oblivion grabbed hold of his shaking shoulders.

"Are you upset Marco?"

"OF COURSE I AM! Why even question it!? I came back here to learn and now I can't! Because of Eclipsa…because of the MHS…because of—!"

"MARCO. I'm not saying the way you feel isn't warranted, you have every right to be angry how you are treated and the results of it, but you know what it means to lash out, right? Marco, we would like nothing more than to teach you, but at the cost of your safety and our own? Come on now, don't be foolish."

Marco held back his emotions.

"…so I'm just to bare it and grit my teeth?"

Buttercup patted his shoulder, "Marco, why don't you stay away from Mewni for a while? You can open…rifts with your sword? I don't see your scissors."

"Yeah, I can, that's how I escaped before the wards were put up."  
"Impressive, lad!"

"Be careful, that ward won't last forever those crystals will eventually give up…I say roughly two years from now. You can have peace of mind until then so why don't you explore the millions of dimensions that can be offered?"

"So I'm to seek new teachers? Who is even qualified to teach me besides you two?"

The two laughed.

"Well, you know how to bloat my ego, Marco."  
"I'm more impressed you don't have a court of ladies keeping you from coming here to learn, the silver tongue on this devil!"

"Marco, I know a vast amount of knowledge and so does Oblivion but we can only teach you so much. We pale in comparison to other teachers you could find elsewhere."

"So who are these teachers?"

Oblivion waved his hand, "As you know Mewni has Dark Knights, well other dimensions have something similar for example the Underworld has Hell Knights, fought those buggers a few times."

"I've met some distinguished 'Knights' of other realms and dimensions, you can find and learn from them, I'm sure they will give you a hard time but they will come around to teach you."

Marco nodded and as Buttercup gave him the places to find them he frowned at one of the suggestions, "I don't want to learn from Hell Knights in the Underworld…I'm wanted there, probably cause more tensions and I want to stay incognito."

"Well learning from the teachers I've told you about should be adequate, but I'm sure you can pick up on things as you traverse the dimensions in disguise. You should try your hand in other outlets: be a bounty hunter, a salvager, a painter, try all sorts of things, you'll be surprised what you're good at."

Marco nodded at the suggestion, taking it into heart, "I'll do that if I can spare the time from my new teachers…a Blight Knight, a Blood Knight and a Death Knight, right? Why do they all sound ominous?"

"What better way to scare off your enemies? Besides, those are just titles find out whether or not your teacher actually fit the bill. Take Oblivion here, Dark Knight as he may he isn't so bad…just a bad influence."

The ghost laughed as did the two of them. When Marco departed the two waved to him, "You got two years Marco, make the best of it before you come back to Mewni, I'm sure you want to sort this mess out by then."

* * *

 **[Before the Sequel]**

"Im…impossible…"  
"…"

A haggard Marco pointed the Traitor Sword at Eclipsa's neck, the entire landscape around them burning, ruptured and filled with blood, the sky cracked with lightning, illuminating the dark canvas of blood red clouds and burning constellations above. Monsters and the like littered the battlefield as the Queen of Darkness summoned them to her aid, but all for naught, even Meteora lay there in the mud, barely alive.

Eclipsa looked up to see the boy, no…the man that bested them all. He was worst for wear, torn up and bloody, but he didn't seem to care, even if he was bludgeon by her monsters, her daughter and even by her own hands and arcane magic, Marco took it.

Meteora weakly pulled herself up, Marco had no problem fighting her, in her base form, monster form, Butterfly form or even her Monster Butterfly form something never before seen. The sheer skill, strength and will from the wielder of the Traitor Sword was peerless to the Queen of Darkness.

"…how could you…?"  
"Don't you fuckin' dare." Marco spat, his breath misting out of his breath, his eyes on Eclipsa.

Marco inched his sword closer, Eclipsa paused before the magic in her hand dissipate, she chuckled at being caught before slumping in the mud mixed with blood, she smiled at Marco even as it began to shower from above.

"I yield, Marco. You have bested Eclipsa Butterfly, the Queen of Darkness. What are your terms?"

"You already know my terms."

Eclipsa held out a hand and he pulled her up, she smiled at the gesture, she made sure to stand _juuust_ right so the holes in her dress were beyond scandalous. Meteora gasped at her mother's display, but she ignored her daughter, her eyes only on the man in front of her.

"As you command…my lovely Dark Knight."

* * *

Ta-da, I did a thing.

Just what to put some ground rules: I can still retcon this chapter as I see fit if it doesn't tie in well with the sequel I _could_ be writing for next year.

Another thing is that I am going to take _every_ review of this fanfic and either eviscerate or rate you, so each of you avid readers who took the time to read this fanfic will be spotlight in my **AUTHOR'S NOTE**. So if MRAY 4TW reviews a 1000 times guess what, I'll compile all his reviews and gets one answer from me. Also it will officially close this fanfic and I can move on to the sequel [probably], so roll out your worst because I will do the same. I'm looking at you roger9481.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	11. AUTHOR'S NOTE

.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

* * *

In this segment, I'll be explaining some of the themes, behind the scenes information and my thoughts of the fanfic and in extension the series Star vs the Forces of Evil. I will also be highlighting my faithful readers who managed to review my fanfic and answer the burning questions they had.

I am the type of author who 'writes' rather than 'tell' however I've come to the realization if I done the former it would drag the story so long it would be read by our grandchildren. So the latter then, to save time and address key points of my fanfic.

1\. Marco is the focal point.

Easy enough, but it was so much harder than that, because some of Marco's key traits and features are made by other characters like his 'Safe Kid' persona interjected by people around him. This fanfic has him come out on his own after he realizes the mistake of coming to Mewni and seeing how things drastically change with him being there or not. It could be seen too if Marco didn't decide to go to Mewni for the rebellion would things just play out like normal? Obviously, Star has beyond normal strength she could have freed herself, etc but for me, Marco felt shoved into the conflict so he could get an ego boost and fuck shit up later.

Hence why Star isn't so present in this fanfic: she's not the point. But she does come later in the sequel so yay I get to write about it. Not. You can already tell I'm not looking forward to it. When I write something, I tend to put myself into their shoes and sometimes the shoe is so wrong and wretched, it's unclean.

That aside, Marco is going to change drastically again in the sequel, but I will take to heart what makes him…him. Marco for me isn't a vengeful man, so he doesn't hold on to his hate as proven with Tom, so no he won't be an 'Avenger' because of Star spurring his affections or vying for it, he learned his lesson a thousand times over.

This is about his trials and tribulations and learning who he is as a person and what it means to be himself. Self discovery and all that bull.

2\. Marco's teachers.

Like Star who has her mother and characters forcing her to change [i.e. Tom and that old lady monster watcher], Marco had two OCs to teach him how to cope in Mewni, he is in a world where his Earth smarts and way of thinking doesn't exactly mesh right. He learns how to be a knight of old and have some sort of control there. Basically if I did not write Oblivion and Buttercup, Marco would be just end up wandering around Mewni and decides to just leave on an adventure without telling Star.

Not to be seen until 2 years later.

Yeah, that idea became the sequel.

The idea of Oblivion came from him finding an old diary and later finding his sword and reading about his past deeds and attempts to live up to them. He would visit historical sites and find more and more clues about the Pendragon and _eventually_ be up to par with the legend. He was drafted to be just to be that, Buttercup was suppose to be his only living teacher.

[The title of the fanfic actually was named after Oblivion at first; him being dead already then also Dark Knight, but then included Marco when he became one too, seeing as a Dark Knight isn't a good thing in Mewni]

As for Buttercup, I thought it would be ironic if Marco was trained by the very foe he despised. It would also give him better insight about the monster's history and predicaments in Mewni and how he would be a better influence. I thought of a rebellion buuut I thought of a better conflict, something no one can ignore.

3\. The Blood Moon Ball.

Gosh, how can the most loved thing for Starco shippers be the one thing I hate. It is an absolute. That's what it is. An absolute. Marco and Star destined to be together. OH COME ON. Now all the character building and moments between them is ruined because all us fans and shipper [myself really] only see the BLOOD MOON BALL making it so.

For me it cheapen Marco's growing affection for Star and vice versa, they were getting along fine, hell Star was honest enough to tell Marco about Tom hence why he was so defensive when he first showed up and later on.

So yeah, basically the show became boring: the conflict became petty and the plot predictable.

The Blood Moon Goddess is more of my insert of my primal rage of the incidents in Season 3 than an OC and also one of the driving force in the sequel. I just feel that the BMB was good concept just not for season 1. Which is why I later classify it as a curse to which Tom found it likable to use on Star, probably not knowing the repercussions of said event.

To make clear this is how the BMB curse afflicted the two lovers:

 **Marco:** can not have a 'formal' relationship with another [being buddies is exempted], he will value his relationship to Star more than any other, the curse will indirectly or directly destroy any outside relationship, the moon [goddess] tries to steer Marco to Star because she's in danger.

As we have seen, I'm actually playing on canon plot, Marco breaking up with Jackie, him losing his good relationship with Hekapoo, only being seemingly friends with Kelly. Yes, Marco can't make girlfriends. Unless it's with Star. I know this sounds stupid now, but goddamnit I am committed to writing it as is. Shot myself in the foot. Feck.

 **Star** [is the same as Marco's but is amped up]: can not make physical contact with her 'suitor' or suffer, will consciously search for her beloved, have vivid dreams pertaining to her beloved, that includes cutting open Marco's eye over and over again and beating him senseless, [for shit and giggles].

So the curse doesn't activate unless Marco or Star is consciously pursuing a relationship. Marco isn't going to throw up if he touches Janna by accident or Star if she hugs her father, if it did oh boy this fanfic would just belly up.

4\. Eclipsa and Meteora.

The series needs conflict otherwise it's boring, so insert Eclipsa and Meteora, one a schemer of the highest order and the other an unknown threat, how dangerous is Meteora? I can very much guess she's enough to mobilize the entirety of Mewni and you already read that she's merged her Monster DNA with the Butterfly form causing havoc and abomination of the Butterfly lineage in Moon's eyes, at least in my fanfic.

I frankly don't care about Meteora, while she was Heinous she had depth and mystery but as Meteora my interest dwindled, I can already tell she's just gonna be a problem not an antagonist and if she get's upgraded here's what happens: Meteora is seen as rightful to the throne, will convert the Butterfly Kingdom to be Monster Kingdom instead or Monster tolerant, making them equal or go on a genocidal rampage through Mewni. Star and Moon is ousted from the kingdom and labeled usurpers, Eclipsa takes back her throne along with her daughter, Star's dream of a peace between Monsters and Mewman is taken over by Meteora who is both and seen as a better candidate to preach it rather than a full blooded Mewman who is Star. I can go on and on about my predictions and it won't be too far from what I already written.

Eclipsa is far more a better character, since we don't know much about her, we can't really see her as bad…mostly. Which I incorporate into my fanfic: why no one remembers what she has done. Because no one knows, we don't know as fans and readers so I thought it would be a fun nod to the information we do know. Then it became a very important theme in the sequel: no one knows what Eclipsa did, Marco especially who is immune to Eclipsa's mind reading, control and possession.

This is important, Marco doesn't know and must find the truth, because who he is as a person can not act upon suspicion alone. This is already spoiler territory but since we lack context, it's okay. For now.

So in total Eclipsa's role is bigger than Meteora as I believe the series will do to her, Meteora is a seasonal villain and that's fine, she can fade into obscurity.

5\. Toffee, where is he in the fanfic?

Yes, the most devious lizard. Because of the information we lack on Toffee I sort of imposed my thoughts on Buttercup instead: both of Lizards, blood related, fighters in the past with the Butterfly Kingdom, smart and many more. I do believe that the Lizards were some of the monsters that saw the ancient Mewmans and probably observed or tried to parley but failed and instead hunted causing a war. In my fanfic, they were some of the monsters that battled the ancient Mewmans later dragging other monsters in the fray unintentionally coming from lands unknown. Since Toffee is immortal as is Rasticore, I believe the two to be extremely old and reason to believe that's how they trump Moon's mother [battle experience] and regeneration also the lack of 'killing spells', which leads me to reveal something about Buttercup…

His mission that he never completed because of Oblivion and why his family hates him…

He was the one suppose to kill the Butterflys *gasp*

Yes, Buttercup aka Marrow Eater aka The Lizard Who Destroys Magic [he is resistant not immune] was actually a Magician Killer/Assassin! Monsters didn't have magic so in my fanfic one Lizard was actually resistant to it and it was Buttercup who was tasked to kill them but ultimately fails.

More on that later.

6\. The Traitor Sword.

This ties in with Buttercup since he later studies it from Oblivion, the sword is very loyal think of it as the Master Sword from Zelda, meaning it will kill any holder not worthy and is capable of many feats. I made the sword to counteract Star's Wand originally but when I wrote a draft about it's history, I really liked how it went so I decided to give it a bigger impact in the story. A sword forged by an Immortal, whatever your interpretation of an Immortal is it's essence, powers and such was infused into the sword allowing it to kill other Immortals [think only a diamond can cut a diamond idiom]. The draft was messy but the key traits is that the sword chooses its master, it can change to whatever it needs to be so it can kill the Immortal [the original intendant], is impervious to harm such as magic, wear and tear, time, temperature, act as a conduit to the holder [allowing them to wield magic not produce] and a bunch of other stuff later explored in the sequel. You might think it's an OP item but it really isn't I just never said how it can be shattered or beaten, though I did hint it.

Just know the sword plays a role in the Blood Moon curse and other events later in the fanfic.

7\. The Magical High Commission.

Yes, the mighty group of enforcers of the dimensions! Seen as gods by mere mortals!  
Brought low by a lowly human with a sword.

Hah! I just know some of you are butthurt about it. Let's get this across, just because you lived for so long and seen so much things doesn't automatically make you invincible or anything special, you are subject to lousy fate nonetheless, you can get killed by a novice or fall for a lame trap. If they were so good how come Ludo/Toffee kicked their asses? Easy, they underestimated him. They didn't expect to find resistance or grow overpowered with unsuspecting magic sucking powers.

SAME WITH MARCO. *minus the succ*

He is a human boy, sure he knows Star, traveled to other dimensions and whatever. But just a boy. Only Hekapoo was wary of him because they spent 16 years together. Hence why Omni and Rhombolus got their asses kicked by Marco, cause they underestimated him thinking he wouldn't get the drop on the two, plus the sword did give him the element of surprise. In the sequel if they did fight, they would treat Marco as if he could kill them with a glance, seeing him as bad as Eclipsa or Ludo/Toffee.

So for now, yes, Marco won by 'sheer dumb luck' and his nifty sword and gauntlets playing some key roles. Just you wait, roger9481.

8\. Tom.

The Lucitor's place in the fanfic is just to stir the pot of drama, I don't really have big plans for him, hell I could write him as a cuckold and it would fit the bill either way. And if I just write him out, then I don't have to bother. Buuut, conflict does spice up the story so he does have some part in the sequel, just much later and he will be whining like a lil bitch about Star and Marco and Janna and his pink bunny.

I'll put his ass on the front row so he can feel special.

9\. Marco's new teachers.

Yes, Marco can't stay on Mewni because of the fallout so he is forced to find the Blight Knight, Blood Knight and Death Knight to learn and prepare himself for his return to Mewni. Why? Because he just does. And also told to. He got 2 years to kill, he might as well have some crazy teachers making him a badass.

Kidding. No, Marco NEEDS to find these teachers, they are wise warriors who survived countless battles and have taught other students before. Better and worthy students than Marco.

Oh, the things I have planned.

10\. Monster Arm.

He plays the role of Marco's dark side, urging him to be bad for the sake of it. MA knows it will die from the charm so it tries to get Marco to do things for it…so it can escape. One way it does is make Marco have sexy time with one of the ladies in his adventures so it grow inside the girl's womb and Alien it's way out. Yeah. Gory. But Marco is wise to this and chooses celibacy since it knows it wants out. So it will constantly tell him to take advantage of damsels he saves, princesses and queens and even his ex girlfriend and friends, trying to drive him to do it's bidding.

Sorry folks no sexy time for you.  
Marco is 17 in the sequel by the way.

11\. Why I made Marco leave Mewni.

Super easy: because Marco is stale in Mewni, he has no reason to prove himself there he is the literal third wheel in a relationship and he is just hurting himself. This game of who chases who for 3 seasons makes me sick, like for fuck's sake you are just padding the goddamn run time. Take my fanfic for example. Yeah it's not a long fanfic, but quality of quantity. I could have made it longer but what for? Burnout. That's right. I would become disinterested just like my readers so I wanted to finish it while I had good momentum. I'm not going to stretch the fanfic into a mess [i.e. what happened to my Will of the Tyrant, god I feel awful, it's not done yet, super sad face] and alienate my readers, who is also getting alienated by the series's direction and plot.

Plus, Marco would need to leave to reevaluate himself and he can't do it on Mewni. He craves adventure and Mewni is going through a reform, a peaceful one at that. Marco isn't out there fighting armies and winning glory, he is chaperoning Star, yeah that's stale and boring. Heck, I don't think I can make it exciting even in a fanfic.

12\. Star.

Gosh, if I could write her out of the story, I would [can you see mah salt right about now!?]. But she just has to be there. You can tell I don't like her development and growth in Season 3, yes while good for her and doing good in her realm...but did she really fix anything?

Yeah, the kids are the future, but if we are going by politics and laws like in the real world, change happens after a LONG TIME and after all the anti-monster coots steps down and I'm sure there is going to be resistance. A lot of it. From the kingdom they govern.

And really politics in a kids show?  
Then again I am writing about a kid show and turning it into a mature fanfic. Damnit.

But what really rustles my jimmies is how Season 2 goes into Season 3, I know late gripe but I have to air my salty laundry so I can write the sequel without going nuclear when Star's drama pops up.

So uh spoiler:  
When Star leaves Earth forever, she got to unload all of her feelings onto Marco who was currently dating Jackie at the time and in front of all of their friends and schoolmates and before that she had Ruberiot basically spell out that she held romantic feelings for Marco who was in a relationship. So let's put this into perspective: Star confessed both on Earth and Mewni about Marco, did it in front of their friends and Jackie, spied on Marco afterwards and managed to avoid the fallout had Jackie snapped out of her shock. 'But Star doesn't know Earth etiquette she probably didn't know that was not cool', she stayed on Earth long enough to understand that's fucked up and that has to be common sense damnit.

 **[Skip the Battle for Mewni]**  
Okay, why didn't the other kingdoms help? Dafuq? Is this a class project where only one out of four people contribute? If the Butterfly Kingdom is allied to the kingdoms that didn't help, you need better allies I swear. BAD WRITING.

 **[Season 3]**  
Alright so Star is obsessed with Marco's hoodie, she goes to great lengths to have it, almost kills Lavabo, is this her manifestation of Marco? And when she realizes it she treats it like a bad thing. Word? Talk about doing a complete fuckin' 180 Star, goddamn. Then decides to bury her affection with Marco with being a better princess, fine. Alright enter Tom, some fuckery happens, they dance and now Tom wants to be a 'better prince' okay he says that but when Marco calls him out that a prince's life is political regardless, he fucking ignores it, what a twat. Alright, Tom's words and actions are _sometimes_ self-contradicting, fine, sometimes we do go back on our word, there's your leeway. This also falls on Star too, saying one thing like this when Pony Head was still in St. O's:

"This is terrible! Best friends don't let best besties have bad birthday days!"

So making out with Tom in front of Marco on his birthday isn't a fucked up thing to do? Well, what is Star? Having sex on top of Marco while he sleeps would?

'Oh, but Star couldn't have known Marco seen her doing that or control him to NOT see it.' Then the writers did. Fuck outta here.

Alright so Marco first pops up on Mewni unannounced, enters the castle and gets hit by a burrito and have the guards almost beat his stuffings out. Okay, how dafuq do they not recognize the person who helped liberate their fucking kingdom, I know he was gone for 'weeks' as I remember but goddamn that means that Mewmans have short memory spans, again 'but the plot can't move forward unless we cuck Marco'. I get he came unannounced but shit they came in like a SWAT team on a live stream Youtuber, Star being upset he came unannounced is warranted but she looked less than pleased he was there, like 'shit Marco...you came home early...earlier than expected while Tom and I were alone in my bedroom doing who knows what.' Shit it sounded like a dirty little secret doesn't it?

Then the cape business, I get that River is 'virtually powerless' as a ruler compared to his wife, but for him to gift Marco with the cape and tell him he 'could be' a knight in front of Star and Moon is fucked up since he can't back it up and what he says he didn't expect to see Marco again really shows how 'unimportant' Marco is despite they bonded and Marco keeping his daughter safe. So River blatantly lies to Marco about being a knight and also his cape is equivalent to a second hand bib. Fuck outta here River.

[Can you see where I got the mistreatment of Oblivion from? A knight who fought to established a kingdom only to be forgotten because the royalty and nobles disliked him or saw him as someone disposable, you can bet your sweet ass I'm gonna grill some fuckers in the sequel]

Moon doesn't escape this either. While she just wishes Marco to be good and safe on Earth, when he comes back to Mewni, she sorts him out like he is a chore or problem she has to do. Yeah, I guess he was unexpected but goddamn this boy punched a hole through Toffee WITHOUT MAGIC for your daughter, treat him a little better at the least. So Moon gets the least of my ire out of the bunch.

Now how Star takes Marco being on Mewni: she's nothing but passive aggressive to Marco. Star couldn't just treat Marco like a foreign exchange student like his family did with her, I understand this is Mewni but I don't recall the first episode making Star a servant to Marco just so she can bunk at the Diaz house, 'oh but he's a squire it's different' a squire is a servant-at-the-ready at the bid of their respective lord or master, I looked it up when I drafting how Marco would become a knight before I made him a dark knight instead. So why treat Marco like this? To show that it is not right for Marco to look up to a place above his station [a mere human to a princess of a realm]. It's an excuse to just hang out, what the fuck, just hang out don't make it super formal and what happened to the closeness they once shared? They shared a bathroom together on Earth, sang together in there, Star kept his 'beard' hair, shared misadventures and life and death moments together, fuck she valued Marco's life more than her royal heirloom. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED.

Now Star is drawing a line and putting up walls so Marco can't get closer, putting him in a Master-Servant [not the sexy kind] relationship, giving his personal items to her 'boyfriend' and treating his gestures as if they were in some way trying to win her affections. And when he finds some comfort or happiness outside of her service like with Hekapoo, she's pissed, as if Marco has to be in a perpetual state of suffering and must seek redemption from her only to be denied that when he comes asking for it. It's like Star is punishing Marco for hooking up with Jackie even though SHE pushed and goad him on and Tom fucking putting that stupid curse on him to further divide him and Star by making him chase his 'dream girl'. It's as if Star is punishing Marco for not accepting her feelings even though she herself did not want to admit she had it and put Marco on the spot.

Can you see the fuckin' insanity and madness in this?

Star didn't want to admit she had romantic feelings for Marco, when he got away and had her secret on display and confessed to Marco, what did she expected Marco to drop Jackie for her on the spot? [by the way that's fucked up]. And when he comes back to Mewni, she punishes him for seeking her even though she indirectly set in motion that his life would be fucked up from her doing. This makes me sick.

So yes, Star has issues and I would not blame Marco if a Mewni Civil War broke out and he just ditches the place and chills back at home.

13\. Politics.

Yeah. I don't like it.

But my fanfic demands it. Please no.

However, Marco has no pleasure of fleeing from this. He HAS to deal with it. He might have to deal with small portions and epic ones but damn, do I hate making fictional politics…into good ones! Damnit! My only weakness!

14\. Mina Loveberry

And lastly Mina, originally she was the one to swoop in and stop Eclipsa from escaping with Star only to be fatally wounded and crawled back to the Butterfly Kingdom to warn the queen was in a few drafts. Mina wasn't suppose to break into the tower but then she was pivotal to revealing some good information since Marco and Star wasn't gonna do it as she is the loose end. In one draft she was suppose to tell Moon about Meteora forcing Marco into exile and goes on a search for Star; this draft was super dark, even I didn't like it. Still...I'm debating what I'm going to do with Mina in the sequel, I'm not even sure where I sent her. :-(

15\. Grammar

No tmie to porfoaerd!

* * *

 **My Avid Readers**

DR. DeCipher,  
Thank you, I thought for a moment that the way I wrote out the BMB would be seen as a bad thing but I'm glad it resonated with a lot of readers and with you.

OmegaDelta,  
Marco has time to do a great many of things, but in the end he must end up back in Mewni, there is work to be done and fortunately he is the one who could make it right. Despite being branded and wanted in that dimension, Marco isn't cold to their plight...yet.

TheForgottenKnightmare,  
I will continue it because I put out waaay too much content before the sequel, too much teasers made.

Shadowmaster91,  
Yes and No. Had Marco never met Star and the BMB, I believe he would eventually have the courage to date Jackie and end up married or down the line break up and end up with...Janna. The curse can indirectly and directly sabotage the lover's relationship if the two are NOT dating, forcing them to seek comfort from one another, it is a very extreme curse and it works in mysterious ways to achieve it's purpose.

MRAY 4TW,  
Ah, yes, MRAY, your reviews out number the stars above. That said, I purposefully kept the Epilogue as vague as possible due to the plot I have crafted, you'll just have to see the mayhem I am writing for Marco to partake in. Just know there will be a gratuitous use of flashbacks for plenty of the characters, be prepared to be thrown out of loop. As always, I thank you for your reviews many of which provided means for me to improve my fanfic, unfortunately my grammar is shot, as always.

Ezilo,  
I know my way through some references, though it might sound sorta out of place at times, I use them mostly as comedic effect, it doesn't have to always be so serious. And yes, I will continue the good work, for the sake of the readers and the fandom.

Guest,  
There were a couple of reviews from you, so I'm not exactly sure which is who so I'l answer you as a whole. I thank you for both your short and long reviews and know that I always write to please.

A unimpressive name,  
Thank you, making a feasible badass Marco without giving him everything did take some thought. I thought of what I already seen but all of them seem so bland and easy, so making Marco focus on being strong in other aspects worked out, I wanted him to be a man of many skills as to make up for his lack of magic. Ingenuity, resourcefulness and being clever is something that shouldn't be overlooked. As for the Fire Bringer, I can't say I have read it before.

Rebelling Death,  
Thank you, and believe me, it's just gets better and better in the sequel, it is just chuck full of everything you would want from a SVTFOE fanfic.

Starcofan09,  
Things are just heating up, the sequel will have a lot more fighting, drama, politics, angst, whining, action, romance, character development, bashing and whatever else necessary to make the fanfic an instant sensation. As for the sequel being romantic, well the cast will be older hopefully they will be a bit wiser to the situation.

OMAC001,  
Thank you, I do believe a good story and plot makes for a good fanfic!

The Book of Eli,  
Thank you for your support, you might have an idea where my sequel is headed but you haven't seen nothing yet, the battles, the drama, the romance, the pettiness? I'm gonna have to crank up the plot to make the sequel surpass the previous iteration, there's gonna be so much of everything really.

Some Powerfull Random Guy,  
Yes, I thank you for your support and I am drafting the sequel as we speak. There will be a continuation to this story, I simply have too much to just leave it.

Kaiser Spartan,  
Ah, Kaiser, you are a familiar sight as is MRAY, your reviews sheds light on my fanfic and while yes my grammar is shot in certain places I have an explanation for why it's like that: I completely missed it because I was typing so fast, proofreading went out of the window. As for the future set up, Marco indeed got his life back on track as Star starts more in depth schooling in running her kingdom however the geopolitical situation because of Eclipsa has shifted things drastically. I quite like my explanation of the Dark Knights in Mewni which they are native to yes, I mean other dimensions can have Dark Knights, but Mewni of old was mostly known for it.

Oracle6044,  
More is to come, thank you for your support.

AchingHeart2011,  
There is a lot more chapters incoming and yes, Marco is growing up to be a man and he isn't and shouldn't be downplayed or bullied by others especially since he doesn't go out of his way to fuck up their day. Thank you for your support.

Isolated Polar Bear,  
Can't say what Disney would do to the series, they are all about child shows and such, but here? In the home of fanfics? It's all us, baby. I prefer fanfic work because we can let loose, we can write how we feel, how we want without someone barreling at us or losing ratings. Things will come full circle come the sequel next year and no one is safe from an ass kicking. Although...I do hate I'm gonna have to make a whole bunch of fictional political plot, my understanding of it is very small but god do I have to write it like I know it. It's still gonna be good, but lord will I pull my hair over some parts.

roger9481,  
Ah, this guy over here. I got your numbers right here, and I'll answer them in order and you know what review I'm referring to:

1\. To answer simply: they underestimated Marco. They thought him some puny human, and since they didn't know he was out training with Buttercup and Oblivion, he got the jump on most of them and the sword came into play as well. The only one that had any reason to be wary was Hekapoo who put up a better fight than most.

2\. Again, yes the sword is OP but it is a conduit not a power source, the wielder is the one taking the drainage. And I've explained earlier: they underestimated him because he was human and didn't know much about his gear. They also were 'intent' on catching him not outright killing the poor guy.

3\. Ah, this part actually correlates to myself actually. I used to go to a karate dojo, before we were taught the actual lessons we were dragged through the shit. The first half was designed to tire us out, the second to teach us the katas. The reason for this was that technique and form must be strong and precise no matter how beaten up you are, sick, weak, tired, etc because whoever was attacking you doesn't give a FUCK if you are READY or NOT. It comes down if you are willing to defend yourself no matter the situation or condition. I didn't want to get my face smash in by someone's foot so guess what: I put those arms up no matter how beaten up I was which bled into how I viewed Marco.  
Marco was being dog piled by literally everyone for something that's not his fault, that would definitely push him to keep himself at the ready. Star's fight with him actually let him get a breather since they talked but it didn't do him much good and he eventually gave out.  
This argument really sounds like you don't believe in human willpower, resolve or strength.

4\. Like I've said the sword can become WHATEVER the wielder needs it to be, so if it wants to deflect something guess what: it's gonna be deflected. Plus the sword is blessed by a literal Immortal and forged by with varies alloys outside of Mewni, even without the blessing that thing is still going to hold up.

5\. Yes. It's bullshit. But St. Olga DID THE SAME THING blocking the dimensional scissors and that's canon I just amped the wards. And so what if you're outside of the Earth's atmosphere, what you're going to breathe in a vacuum? Withstand all that tasty space radiation and space debris? Not burn up entering the Earth's atmosphere?

I suppose they can get away with this with 'magic' to avoid being hurt by these facts, but then I would just make another bullshit that they couldn't so it's just gonna be a fucked up circle jerk. Marco barred his dimension from entry, simple as that. I didn't want to make the fanfic complicated.

Maybe Omnitraxis's own powers not working or Star not able to is a stretch but then I could just make another bullshit that they couldn't. Really, I could have made Marco brand those two from using their powers to enter his dimension and get the same effect. Boom bullshit achieved.

6\. Yes. It's exactly like you said: Marco didn't want to hurt her. I also understand he is exhausted from fighting which is why he gets his ass handed at the end. Marco just hit his limit and that was it.

Now let's consider Star, yes she fought since she was a child, the Mewni environment demands it, has above human prowess so she can just beat Marco right? I agree that Star has the strength and experience, but technique and strategy I soundly give to Marco.

This part I took a lot of inspiration from Obi Wan and Anakin's fight in Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, I know watch the fight scene and just imagine Marco as Kenobi and Star as Anakin. You see in that final fight Obi Wan is clearly WEAKER than CHOSEN ONE Anakin, Obi Wan defensive while Anakin offensive. In the last leg of the fight you can tell Obi Wan can't keep up any longer and uses the HIGH GROUND to secure his victory over Anakin who became overly confident.

So I decided to do something similar with Marco and Star but with a twist, Marco is physically weaker than Star plus weaken, so he takes up a defensive style cause he doesn't want to attack her and knows if it's a contest of strength he will lose. He _was_ suppose to outlast Star, hope she would then listen to him but he ran out of gas and Star devolved into her primitive Mewman war fury and beats him senseless.

"Yup, the only reason star won was because marco didn't want to hurt her." The definite answer is: yes and no. I could have written it as Marco just lashing out at the last second or take the hit and hope Star comes to her senses, the latter I chose because it was a lot more emotional and heart wrenching to have the one you love strike you down like how Obi Wan felt with Anakin.

"You were the chosen one Star!"  
"I HATE YOU, MARCO! YOU HAD SO MANY KIDS WITH SO MANY OF OUR FRIENDS! YOU ONLY GAVE ME THREE!"

The fight between Star and Marco was symbolic of their friendship being further strained, Marco was to leave Mewni regardless if I chose him to go the path of fighting or not.

All in all roger, I like the points you brought up because if you didn't someone down the line would just bring it up anyways. This also gave me the opportunity to explain why things play out the way they did, I like to 'write' how it happens not 'tell' it like this blatantly, so excuse my very forward way [emotional] of explaining some aspects of the fanfic. Critiques like this are fairly common place to me, I used to write on deviantart and those guys are balls to the wall. Nostalgic.

GoldManCharm,  
I agree a lot of things are going to happen in the sequel, you might see things you like and not, so much I want to say but spoilers man.

imhere4svtfoe,  
You want ships? I'll give you ships brotha, ships for everyone in the sequels! Written extremely tastefully.

Robert's Hammer,  
Thank you for your kind words and review, I'll be making that sequel you crave. Just like that mineral.

Quva,  
Tease then please. I'm drafting the sequel right now, and though I can let it cook for a while *looks at MRAY* I like how I make rapid updates. The series has so much potential but they are hampered by Disney and other shit, so they seemingly fall short at times so it's up to great fanfic writers far and wide to please the masses. Thank you for your support.

Oracle6044,  
Thank you, your review got to the point however I will go around it cause spoilers are bad. The sequel is being worked on as we speak, I can't wait to reveal it! The plot twist is I'm gonna do it slowly from now on. Or will I?

fanguyperson,  
This review really spoke out to me, just like when I first read a fanfiction I couldn't wait to review it, making an account just to voice my thoughts and support for the writer. Thank you.

Shadow,  
Well the BMB took place well before I wrote the fanfic, however if you refer to my take on the BMB, it's just my thoughts on it and how it sorta ruined the development between Star and Marco.

AchingHeart2011,  
I will make more. For you. And the rest of my readers! Marco is growing up as would anyone when they go through an ordeal, just gotta get back up. As for Janna, weeell she craves that Diaz.

Marco The Keyblade Master,  
Thank you for your review, I especially like how you think I should write for the show: I can't. I don't think Marco overshadowing Star would be good and well liked as of right now for the tv show not the fanfic. I will make more, see ya soon!

Pluckii,  
Best of luck indeed, I just want to write my fanfics and unleash them to be read, it's a lot of fun and liberating to just write how you like. I put lotsa passion into it and I guess some readers can tell I do, fanfiction is a freedom of creativity like drawing or dancing, make what you like and the rest will come naturally.

Feakiu,  
I'm guessing the Funny chapter or the Epilogue...well, I'll think about that ship while I draft! And that long con, maybe...just maybe...thanks for reading my fanfic brotha!

* * *

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and review my fanfic, even though it is not canon and hold no official merit to the series, I does warm my heart knowing that people around the world appreciate good fanfics.

And with this I solemnly close this fanfic of mine.  
See you all soon in my sequel!

Ciao

I AM NRG

 **END OF TRANSMISSION**


	12. Sequel

.

ATTENTION:  
To all my avid readers, the time has come.  
It's a new year, a new me.  
More fanfictions to read. More updates to do.

That said, the sequel has been drafted, written [so far] and ready to be read in a moment's time, it will be hence called:

A Darken Knight, a Fallen Knight story.

It has been a honor writing for you all and making this fanfic of adolescence to adulthood, of adventure and love, honor and duty, tragedy and redemption, hurt and comfort, violence and reality, treason and valor, hope and beauty, inspiration and hungry tummies, bygone days and unknowable futures and everything in between.

Special thanks to readers who left a piece of their mind on reviews, PMs, comments, flames and those who didn't or couldn't.  
Each one of you contributed in your special ways.  
Now, I give back to you.  
The readers.

Ciao,  
I AM NRG

See you all at the sequel!


End file.
